


Shock

by Abyssinian



Series: Building a Life Together [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, F/M, Fluff, Generally never know what to do for additional tags, Graduation, M/M, Mates, Pack Mom Stiles, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 01:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 64,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1800571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abyssinian/pseuds/Abyssinian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Sheriff and Scott find out about Derek and Stiles and we go from there...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has gotten really long...
> 
> UPDATE  
> I reposted all chapters after correcting some errors. Hope I got most typos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Worked out some typos and updated this chapter. The rest will follow.

Like any other teenager his age on a Sunday morning Stiles was sleeping in. At least up to a certain point, because at eleven his father walked into his room to wake him. In his opinion even sleeping in had its limits. And this particular morning he would regret it. Usually the Sheriff just yelled, which he had done, without any response and he would always regret that fact. As soon as he had opened the door to his son's room he was rooted to the spot.  
Stiles lay flat on his stomach, the light blanket covering him from his narrow hips down. The fact which had silenced his father was the dark haired man who was draped across his back, head resting on his shoulder, also very naked and only covered from the hips downward.  
"Stiles!" The sheriff yelled.  
His son's body flinched into consciousness as much as was possible under the heavy body on top of him. Stiles Stilinski lifted his head mere inches to get his bearings. The warm sun filtering through the curtains, almost noon. He tried to take a deep breath, but couldn't. A slight turn of his head showed him the black messy hair of his lover. Last but not least his father's voice filtered through the night's haze. With a start he was fully awake and hissed at Derek to get off him through gritted teeth. His voice was barely audible, but why bother with a werewolf.  
The older man rolled off his back and landed on his own beside him, eyes still closed.  
"Stiles, can I get an explanation?" He was losing his patience.  
His son sat up, pulling his hands over his face. He groaned at the bright light.  
"Which part of this isn't obvious?" Damn his loose mouth.  
"His age."  
Stiles looked at him dumbfounded. "Really?...I mean really? That you have a problem with? Not that I AM having sex? Or that I am doing it with a man? You get hung up on the fact that I am not 18 yet and he is older?"  
"He is..." He took another reluctant look at the young man still lying motionless beside his son and scrunched up his face. "...Derek Hale?"  
"Yes, Dad. Could you leave so we can get dressed?"  
"I should arrest him."  
"Uhm, no." He emphasized the denial. "And you tried that before. So..." He directed a nod to the door. His father left with a defeated shrug.  
Finally the alpha opened his eyes and looked at the boy beside him, who also looked down at him.  
"Why are you still here? You never stay over. And you certainly heard him coming long before he was up here."  
"I was tired and I listened to your heart. I didn't hear him."  
Stiles bent down to him and kissed him. "I'm glad you stayed." He said with a smile.  
"Can we take a shower before your father kicks me out or arrests me?"  
"He's not gonna arrest you, Sourwolf."  
"You sure about that?"  
Stiles grinned. "He might shoot you, if you break my heart."  
"I have no intention to do that."  
The teen kissed him again. "I think it's safer, if you leave." He stroked the other’s cheek. "I need to talk to him."  
"Okay..." Derek sighed. "See you tonight?"  
"Yeah, I'll be there."  
The werewolf finally sat up and kissed the boy passionately. When they let go of each other Derek jumped out of bed, put his clothes on and got out the window. Stiles looked after him for a moment, before he trailed into his bathroom for a minute and then went downstairs.  
"Dad?"  
His father was pouring himself some coffee. He looked up, when his son addressed him. For once Stiles was at a loss for words.  
"How long?"  
"Six months."  
"Why did you think you couldn't tell me?"  
"You don't like him."  
"Maybe I would, if I got to know him. Maybe I could ignore the fact that you are underage and he is, what, six years older?"  
"Seven, but that is not the point..."  
"What is? Because I only see a troubled young man, I arrested under the suspicion of murder."  
"He is a good person and..."  
"Go on." His father looked at him expectantly.  
"...and I'm in love with him."  
Sheriff Stilinski shook his head in defeat. "Invite him for dinner some time."  
"Not, if you're gonna interrogate him."  
"To get to know him. Because that face doesn't exactly inspire confidence."  
"Can you blame him, for not trusting people?"  
"I guess not..."  
"Dad." He looked directly into his father's eyes. "Contrary to popular believe, I know what I'm doing."  
"At least don't let him stay over when I'm here. I'm still the sheriff and you're underage."  
"I can do that." The boy grinned.

Derek got home shortly before 12 and in walking towards his bedroom he discarded his shirt and started to unbuckle his belt, when he stopped dead in his tracks.  
"What are you doing here, Scott?"  
"Today is pack meeting." The teenager said innocently.  
"No, tonight is pack meeting. Why are you here now?" He turned around.  
Scott blinked. "Jeez, you reek of sex and..." He hesitated. "...Stiles." The youngster looked at him quizzically. "He's all over you."  
"He always is, if you haven't noticed."  
"Not like this. Not..."  
"If you don't want anything leave." The sentence was delivered in a low growl with flashing red eyes, which made the highschool student shy away and bolt out of the house.  
Derek sighed and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. 'We might have a problem.' He texted.  
The answer came a few minutes later. 'Which is?'  
'Scott was just here.'  
'And?'  
'He sniffed us out.'  
'Are you serious?'  
'Would I joke about something like that?'  
'Crap, he's here.'  
'Have fun talking yourself out of that one.'  
'Us.'  
The alpha merely sent a smiley face back and went into the bathroom to shower.

When Scott entered his room, he grabbed his best friend by the shoulders and looked at him intensely. "What has he done to you?" The question was uttered with a few careful sniffs.  
"What the hell, dude?" Stiles exclaimed and detached himself from the werewolf.  
"He stank of sex and..." The last word came as an afterthought. "...you."  
"Who?" Stiles kept a straight face and his heart didn't betray him either.  
"Derek. Derek came home and he smelled."  
"Why were you there? Pack meeting is tonight."  
"I wanted to ask him, if Allison could come."  
"Why? She is a hunter, Scott."  
"She helped before..."  
"She also tried to kill Derek." Stiles got upset. This time he couldn't control his heart rate.  
"Why are you so angry? It's not like..." His best friend suddenly remembered why he had come.  
"Like what?"  
"You like him..." He finished in a disbelieving tone and he could hear Stiles' panicked heart race. "Oh my god, he really was here last night."  
"What difference does that make?" Stiles looked directly into his eyes with a hard expression on his face.  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"What's it to you? You're always with Allison. You never come around anymore and if you hadn't been at Derek's you'd still be oblivious."  
"How long have you two been..."  
"...seeing each other? For six fucking months and you don't have the fuzziest about it." He was yelling by now. "You are so absorbed in your wolf and Allison, you have no idea what is happening to me. That I have found someone and that this person is your alpha. What are you doing with all the training he is giving you? You can't even tell, when Derek has found a mate and is happy."  
"A mate?" The other boy visibly flinched at the word. "As in...?"  
"Forever."  
Sheriff Stilinski had been drawn in by the raised voice of his son and stepped into the room, when the last word fell from Stiles' lips and kept ringing in his ears. He asked himself how someone so young, could make a commitment like that.  
"Is everything okay here?"  
Stiles looked up. "Yes, Scott was just leaving."  
The dark haired boy practically ran out of the house, while the sheriff stared at his son.  
"What was this about?" He asked tentatively.  
Stiles sighed. "Derek."  
"What's he done?"  
"Why would you automatically assume he did something? Never mind. Scott found out about us."  
"He didn't know? Why?"  
"You'd think he would notice something as significant as his best friend having a boyfriend in half a year. But oh no, it's always about him and about Allison."  
"What about just telling him?"  
"I wanted to make sure, this was working first and after a while I just...didn't mention it and he never caught onto it."  
"But you are sure, now?"  
"Yes, Dad."  
"Did you just say 'forever'?"  
"Yeah."  
"Stiles, you are 17. How can you commit your life to one person at your age?" His voice was soft.  
"I can, Dad. And I have. This is not some random crush. Trust me."  
"Okay. You and Scott gonna be alright?"  
"Eventually..."  
His father sighed. "I have to go to work, I'll be home late."  
"Okay, bye Dad."

After he did his homework Stiles looked at his phone and sighed. It was past five and the pack meeting would start shortly.  
'I won't come today.'  
'I gather it didn't go too well with Scott.'  
'Could have been worse, but I don't feel like seeing the pack today.'  
'Need me to rip his throat out?'  
'No, just come by after. I'll leave the window open.'

The teenager had dosed off at nine. He lay on his back on his bed, his head had rolled to the side, away from the window. The big werewolf jumped into his room with ease and landed silently on the carpet. Derek Hale looked at the younger male and his expression softened, when he toed off his shoes and kneeled on the bed hovering over his lover. He was mesmerized by the steady pulsating under the pale skin of Stiles' neck. The alpha took a deep breath to calm his excitement a little before he dove in to nuzzle the crook between the shoulder and the neck. He took in the sweet scent nosing along the neckline. He stopped just beneath the ear and trailed small kisses back down, all the while he unbuttoned the boy’s shirt. Derek continued placing butterfly kisses along his collarbone, the dip in between and more kisses along the one on the other side. His hands pushed the fabric away and they started to roam the bared skin. His kisses became more possessive, when he felt Stiles' slender fingers grabbing two fists full of his shirt pulling him closer. A low growl signaled his arousal. He let his tongue flick over the soft skin on the boy’s neck and bit down nibbling at the flesh. Stiles moaned at the sensation. His eyes flicked open, when Derek's mouth left him and he looked directly into the red flashing eyes of the older man.  
He grinned hazily. "Easy there. Breakable human."  
The only response was a rumble in the werewolf's throat and the red vanished from his eyes. Derek spent another hour mapping the teen's skin and marking him, teeth and lips bruising him. The alpha lingered behind his right ear before he claimed his lips once more. Stiles had Derek's head in his hands and stared up into his bright eyes.  
"I love you."  
"I know."  
The older man pressed their lips together for an incredibly gentle kiss, after which he let his whole body sink to lay on top of his lover's thinner frame nuzzling his neck. Stiles hugged him close, one arm around his shoulders, the other hand at the nape of his neck stroking lazy patterns into the short hair.

When he heard his father's car pull into the driveway he couldn't bring himself to care and detach himself from his warm man-shaped blanket.  
"I'm home." The sheriff bellowed into the silent house. He had seen the light, so he knew his son was there, even if he didn't respond. A few minutes later the door opened. He stilled and sighed softly. Stiles looked up at him with slightly raised eyebrows in question.  
"Have you two eaten?"  
"Yes, thanks Dad."  
His father left and Stiles closed his eyes and lay his cheek against Derek's head.  
"I love you." He whispered beside the wolf's ear, desperation in his breaking voice.  
Derek Hale took in a startled breath and carefully raised his head to look at the boy.  
"Hey, you okay?" His fingertips traced across Stiles' face.  
He shook his head lightly. "No...I...I'm in love with you and I don't know..."  
Doubt. Derek felt a slight panic rise, when he heard the obvious doubt.  
"Stiles, I love you, too."  
"You're just saying that...You never...before..." He was on the verge of crying.  
"I am in love with you. I'm just not good at voicing that. I know you say you love me a lot. I just...I'm better in showing you." He kissed the forming tears out of the corners of Stiles' eyes.  
"Please don't doubt my love for you."  
"Okay." He tried a grin, which came out a little crooked. "Wanna meet my Dad?"  
Derek growled and went back to nuzzling his neck. Stiles concentrated on his breathing and calming his heart down. After a few minutes the teenager placed a kiss to the side of the alpha's head.  
"Come on."  
He nudged his lover into movement. Derek peeled himself off of him and dragged him with. Stiles took his hand and lead him downstairs where his father was eating in the kitchen.  
"Hi." Derek had an only semi-threatening look on his face.  
"Nice to meet you in a conscious state."  
"Yes, Sir."  
"So this is serious?" He motioned between the two young men.  
"Yes, Sir."  
Stiles placed two glasses of water in front of them, which Derek acknowledged with a short look. He drank half the glass and placed it back in front of him.  
"Can he stay?" Stiles looked hopefully at his father.  
"Stiles, you have school tomorrow. No staying over." He put his dishes in the sink. "I'll be in bed. Goodnight boys."  
They migrated to the living room and flicked the TV on. Stiles snuggled into the side of his boyfriend. "You do know tomorrow the whole pack will know, right?"  
"I'm aware." The low rumble in his chest send a shiver down Stiles' spine.  
"Is it okay?"  
"We would have eventually told them. Now's as good a time as any other I guess."  
"You sure?"  
At that the alpha looked down at him. "Do you think they won't accept us?"  
"Just me..." The boy whispered and slit down farther, until his head lay in Derek's lap. The werewolf hadn't expected the teenager still to be that insecure about their relationship. He damn near had a panic attack before and even after the older man finally voiced his feelings for him, he still didn't trust them.  
"What can I do?" He raked his fingers through Stiles' short hair.  
"Stay." His voice was so faint Derek barely heard him.  
He sighed. "Come here." The wolf pulled him up by his arms and toward himself, so he straddled him. He slung his arms around the thin waist and back and hugged him as close as he possibly could without hurting the human. The boy’s confusion subsided and he put his arms around Derek's neck, letting his head fall to the warm junction between his shoulder and his neck, breathing in the familiar scent he found there.  
Stiles didn't notice, but the werewolf heard the soft footsteps in the kitchen, as his father got himself a glass of water and looked at them for a good five minutes before he retreated back upstairs. In the short time he had silently observed them John Stilinski realized, he had been wrong about his initial assumption about his son's relationship. They were young, he had assumed it was mostly physical, as uncomfortable as he was with that, but this looked like so much more. Seeing them, Derek holding Stiles, just comforting him. When his son had said forever, he was surprised, he didn't think much by it. The older man was Stiles' first real relationship after all. But now he wasn't so sure, especially after how much the argument with Scott had apparently upset him.  
Derek waited some time, until Stiles' breathing and pulse had evened out, before he got up, the teenager still clinging to his front and carrying him upstairs. He laid him gently on the bed, when he had pulled the covers aside. As soon as he lay beside the boy, he curled himself around the werewolf and Derek pulled the cover over them both.  
Stiles opened his eyes to Derek staring down at him propped on his elbow, when his alarm went off.  
"Morning, gorgeous." He smiled up, at the dark haired man.  
"Morning." He kissed Stiles' forehead. "I better go, before your father notices I'm still here."  
"Okay. See you tonight?"  
"Yeah." Another quick kiss and he was out the window.

Derek Hale was a few feet away from his car and about to unlock it, when he felt somebody watching him and turned around.  
"Good morning, Sheriff."  
"Wasn't I clear yesterday?"  
"Yes, you were and I'm sorry, it won't happen again."  
"Why then?"  
The younger man sighed. "He was upset, I didn't want to leave him like that."  
"Just...don't stay over anymore."  
"Understood."

Morning practice had been a good vent for the anger he still felt towards Scott and the shower after loosened his sore muscles. He took his time getting dressed. Just as he finished drying his hair before putting on his shirt, he felt a finger tracing over his shoulder. He jumped and lowered the towel.  
"Who used you as a chew toy?"  
Stiles sighed when his eyes fell on the young werewolf. "Who else..."  
Isaac carefully sniffed along the older boys shoulder and neck, where the darkest of the purple bruises had formed.  
"I knew it."  
Stiles smiled mildly at the excited face of the beta and put on his shirt to cover most of the marks.  
"You got one behind your ear." Isaac grinned.  
"Damnit." He traced his fingers over the spot.  
"When will you make it official."  
"I'm coming over to the house tonight. So I guess anybody there will know then. At least those who don't already know."  
"Who does?"  
"Scott, probably Allison by now and my Dad. And considering your reaction, the others suspect us anyway, am I right?"  
"True."  
"Wanna know, what the funny thing is? We didn't even try all that hard to hide our relationship, we just didn't mention it and didn't show you. All of you have just gotten so used to me being around, none of you really registered the shift."  
Isaac stepped closer again, right into his personal space, nosing along Stiles' neck, breathing him in.  
"Up close it's obvious."  
"Arrgh, not you two, too. Isn't Danny enough."  
Both teens looked at their coach incredulously.  
"Enough, what, coach?" Stiles couldn't resist the question, Isaac only barely resisted a snort.  
"G..." The teacher stopped himself. "Just get out of here to your classes."  
When they were out of earshot Stiles outright laughed at how easy it was to unsettle the coach. The werewolf chimed in until they got to their classroom. Isaac sat behind him, Erica and Boyd beside him on each side.  
"Really?" He looked at them in turn. "Okay, yes. You happy now?"  
"Yes." Erica grinned wildly, Boyd just nodded.  
At least they didn't have a problem with his choice of boyfriend. If anything they seemed happy and Stiles smiled absently. Maybe this day wouldn't be that bad after all. He didn't see Scott all day and when he exited the building to leave, the familiar black Camaro was waiting for him. He stepped to the window.  
"Hey, I thought I was coming to your place later?"  
"Slight change of plans. Give him your car keys."  
Stiles jerked around to Isaac's outstretched hand. He was too startled to disobey, gave the younger boy his keys and slipped into the passenger seat.  
"Where are we going?"  
Derek didn't answer him. He pulled away from the curb, an unreadable expression on his face and sunglasses firmly in place, hiding his eyes. After a few minutes, in which they had turned towards the hills, the boy tried again.  
"Derek?"  
He didn't get an answer. Ten minutes later the werewolf stopped the car on a deserted parking space on the edge of the woods overlooking the valley Beacon Hills was situated in. Stiles slowly exited the car to follow his boyfriend outside. When he rounded the car the wolf roared at him, all teeth and red glowy eyes. The teenager stumbled backwards into the driver's door and slid to the ground in surprise. Arms flailing on his way down, he blinked up at the wolfed-out man. He didn't even dare speak, he could only gasp. He was close to tears, suddenly afraid to move. Another violent growl shook him, this time not directed at him.  
The alpha blew out heavy breaths trying to calm himself, when the full moon started to rise. His wolf was clawing on the inside to be set free. It had been a long time since he had been on the verge of losing control over his shift. He couldn't focus. It took him far too long to turn back to his human form, all the while his mate sat frozen against the car. When he finally did regain control he slumped forward and sank to his knees. Why would the fact, that his relationship was common knowledge now, confuse his mind so much. On a logical level he didn't even care that much. But his subconscious was screaming, it was too soon, especially for the sheriff to know. The feeling that he had lost something important was gnawing at him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. After a long while he picked himself up and walked over to the car slowly, not to scare Stiles further. Derek Hale pulled the teen into his chest and nuzzled his neck.  
The werewolf breathed deeply. "I'm sorry." he whispered.  
"What happened?" Stiles didn't move from his position, where he hugged Derek's pulled up legs.  
"I can't..."  
"What? You can't what?"  
"Everyone knowing. This has just been us and it was good."  
At that Stiles disentangled himself from the bigger man and stared at him. "What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?"  
Derek stared at the boy wide eyed. "Never..." He breathed the word.  
Stiles remained composed, one of them had to. "What then?"  
"It feels like they are taking you away from me. Everyone that knows."  
"Nobody is taking me away from you."  
"Your father is..."  
Stiles was confused for a moment, when he realized that they had spent almost every night together since they had started dating. "I will fix that." Derek looked at him hopeful. "I promise."  
"I hate the fact that you are doing this to me." He looked to the ground. "I can't even sleep without you anymore."  
Stiles pulled his head to his chest. "You can. I just think the prospect of not having me every night freaked you out a little. I guess the full moon didn't help."  
"I'm sorry."  
"It's okay, just try to keep your wolf in check when you're around people. Namely my father."  
"I will."  
Stiles got to his feet pulling his lover with him. The older man took his face in his hands and kissed him passionately, letting his tongue slip into the boy’s mouth, when he opened it to give him entry. When he had to break the kiss to get some oxygen Stiles took a step back.  
"We good?"  
Big, bad and broody nodded and drove them to the renovated Hale mansion, where the rest of the pack already waited, passing the time with video games. Scott and Jackson barely acknowledged the arrival of the alpha's Camaro, whereas the other betas scrambled to the porch. As soon as Stiles climbed the steps Erica, Boyd and Isaac one by one were nuzzling his neck, until Derek grabbed his waist to drag him inside.  
"Anybody up for a movie?" Stiles' cheerful voice rang through the house.  
After an all around agreement Isaac picked an action comedy for some light entertainment. He shared the big couch with Erica and Boyd, Scott sat on a cushion, Jackson in the smaller armchair and Stiles wrapped himself around Derek in the big one. The former kanima took a look around the room when the movie started and stopped at the alpha and his mate.  
"When did that happen?" He merely raised an eyebrow.  
Scott didn't even look, but answered anyway. "Apparently six months ago."  
Jackson just shrugged and directed his gaze back to the big flatscreen, not interested in whatever problem his fellow beta had with the relationship. He couldn't care less, his better half on the other hand would be thrilled for reasons unknown to him.  
When the credits trailed down the screen Stiles had long since stopped to pay attention to the movie, his face was nuzzled into Derek's neck where he breathed his scent in, while at the same time scenting him. The alpha was rubbing soothing circles on the boy’s side and held one with his other hand.  
"Who's up for another?" Boyd was already rooting through the DVD's.  
Erica and Isaac nodded. Jackson looked at his phone, where he found a text message from Lydia and announced his departure. Scott thought for a minute, then got up and mumbled a goodbye. Stiles startled his boyfriend when he scrambled from his lap to follow his best friend outside, if the term even applied anymore. He wasn't sure about that. He slammed the door behind himself.  
"Scott, wait."  
The werewolf stopped and turned hesitantly. "What?"  
"We have to talk about this."  
"This?" He made an encompassing movement with his arms.  
"Yes." The human yelled exasperated. "I know I should have told you sooner..."  
Scott interrupted him. "You should have told me, period."  
"I know and I'm sorry, but it doesn't change anything."  
"It doesn't?"  
"Has it in the past six months, you didn't know?"  
"No...?" He stretched the word insecurely.  
"Then get a grip."  
He turned towards the house not waiting for a response and got back inside. Stiles Stilinski paused briefly in the hall, glancing over the rest of the pack, before he went upstairs to Derek's bedroom. His alpha followed the noises he made, until he heard him rustling in the covers and his breathing evening out. Half an hour later, when it was clear the boy wouldn't wake anymore Derek stepped outside and called the sheriff.  
"Stilinski."  
"Hello, Sheriff. This is Derek Hale."  
"What can I do for you?"  
"I'm sorry to bother you at work. I just wanted to inform you that Stiles is at my house for the night. He fell asleep."  
John Stilinski sighed heavily. "Fine."  
"Thank you, Sir."  
"Yeah, good night." He just hung up.  
The alpha put his phone back in his pocket and sighed as well. He still wasn't sure if the whole sleeping together with Stiles thing would fly with his father.  
"I'll be upstairs."  
"Good night." His betas said unanimously.

Derek Hale shed his clothes on his way from the bedroom door to the bed one item at a time and crawled in behind his mate engulfing him in a tight embrace. He pressed small kisses to the boy’s neck, before he lay his head on the side of Stiles' neck. Stiles snuggled himself into the embrace in his sleep and let out a content sigh.  
Stiles woke with his face buried in the older man's bare chest. "Hmmmm." He kissed the spot directly in front of him, then scraped his teeth lightly along the skin. He pinched some skin between his teeth, which woke Derek with a slight flinch accompanied by a growl and the immediate capture of the teen’s lips in a hungry kiss.  
Their making out session was interrupted by someone barging into the room. Stiles groaned when Derek's lips disconnected from his and the alpha's head fell to his neck, while he looked towards the door to see who it was.  
"Can I have a ride to school with you?"  
"Yes, Isaac. Now shoo." He said with a small smile.  
As soon as the door closed Derek turned them so he lay on top of the boy between his legs. Stiles gasped softly when the alpha ground his hips into his. He took Derek's face in his hands in order to take control of the situation. He looked straight into the green eyes staring back at him.  
"Not now. I need to shower before school."  
"Can I come?"  
"As much as I would love that, I wouldn't make it to school in time."  
"But..."  
"Honey, no pouting." Stiles smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. He wiggled himself out from under his lover to take a quick shower and grab a toast for breakfast. He made it back to their room to retrieve his backpack, where Derek was still in bed staring at the ceiling. The teenager leant over him to peck his lips, but paused. "I love you." He pressed his lips to the other’s for a few seconds and left.  
"Isaac, we're leaving." He shouted through the house only to find the boy already seated in his car when he opened the door. He sighed with a smile. Of course the most affectionate of the betas didn't leave anything to chance when it came to Stiles. They chatted lightly about school and Isaac shyly brought up boys.  
"You have anybody in mind?" As always his mouth was quicker than his brain.  
"Uhm..."  
"It's ok. You don't have to tell me."  
"It...it's Danny."  
"Definitely not a bad choice." Stiles grinned at the younger boy.  
"You think I have a chance?"  
"Why not? Who could resist those puppy eyes." He ruffled the others blond curls.  
Soon after he pulled into the school's parking lot and they walked together to their first class.  
"You have a plan of action?"  
"What?"  
Stiles nodded towards Danny, who walked a few yards in front of them.  
"I don't know..."  
"You could just ask him out."  
"Will you help me?"  
"You want me to ask him out for you?"  
"Will you...?" The young wolf had a hopeful expression on his face.  
Stiles sighed. "Ok, fine. But I can't promise anything."

After Lacrosse practice Stiles cornered Danny in the locker room.  
"Hey Danny."  
He looked up from his seated position with an annoyed expression. "Stiles."  
"Oh come on, I just want to ask you something."  
"Which is?"  
"Well..." Stiles hesitated, he never actually had asked anybody out before. For Lydia he never had the courage and Derek...Derek had snuck up on him without either of them realizing what was happening.  
"You're not my type." Danny stated drily.  
The shorter boy looked confused for a second. "Me? No. I'm actually very very VERY taken."  
"You have a girlfriend?"  
"Don't sound so surprised. But no, not a GIRLfriend..."  
"You are...?" Now Danny was confused.  
"Yes, well... But this isn't about me. As I said, absolutely not on the market." He pointed at himself. "Consider myself a proxy."  
"For whom?"  
Since he had been listening in on the conversation the werewolf chose that moment to step around the row of lockers, big blue eyes watching them hopeful. Stiles looked up, sensing the beta. He definitely spent way too much time around the wolves.  
"Him."  
His team mate followed his line of sight. "Lahey?"  
"Yes, any chance you would want to go out with him?"  
"I, ah, yes."  
A shy smile spread across Isaac's face.  
"My work is done here."

At dinner Stiles fixed his father with a hard stare.  
"What is it?"  
"Why did you ban Derek from the house?"  
"I didn't. I just can't have him sleeping here in the same bed as my underage son."  
"I'll be eighteen in three months, Dad. Do you think my state of mind will change in that time?"  
"Hardly, but I'm the Sheriff..."  
"Okay, fine. But I can stay over at his place on the weekends?"  
"As long as you tell me, you are at Scott's instead."  
"That can be arranged."  
"Good."

It happened that Derek didn't come over at night all week, because he had to deal with some pack business involving Peter. And the alpha always kept his slightly psycho uncle as far away from Stiles as he could. Friday came and Isaac had asked if Stiles wanted to come to The Jungle with him and Danny. Stiles hesitated not wanting to interrupt their date, but Danny also said it was okay, so he agreed. They got themselves drinks and while Stiles found himself a comfortable corner at the bar the other two went to the dance floor. He watched the crowd move and glanced at his companions every once in a while. He smiled, when he saw the young wolf visibly relaxing.  
"You have no chance with him."  
"Excuse me, what?" Stiles turned towards the voice, which belonged to a fairly nice looking young man, a little older than himself. And he once again realized that he definitely was not attracted to other men, other than his mate. He had to grin at that fact.  
"The fluffy blond with the ridiculously sharp cheekbones you are staring at."  
"What makes you say that?" Curiosity kicked in.  
"He is hot, so is the guy he's dancing with."  
"One could argue that, but it isn't an answer to my question."  
"Don't get me wrong, you're cute and all, but you could never land something like that."  
"That so?" Stiles looked directly into the others eyes, well aware that his better half was coming through the club to him. Derek stopped shortly beside his beta whispered something and started moving again. The alpha was almost there, when the man beside Stiles noticed him and downright stared.  
"Wow."  
Stiles chuckled. "That's mine." He uttered a second before Derek captured his lips for a quick kiss.  
"Hey babe. Is he bothering you?" The werewolf scowled at the guy.  
"No, he was just entertaining me." He patted the alphas chest. "You wanna stay a little?"  
Derek Hale leaned forward to the boy’s ear. "I had something else in mind." The words were delivered in a low growl.  
"Tell me more." Stiles whispered.  
The wolf squeezed his eyes shut, because he knew they would glow red with lust if he opened them. "We are leaving." He dragged the giggling teen with him and they were at the Hale house in a matter of ten minutes. They stumbled through the house barely keeping upright and not hitting anything until they made it into Derek's bedroom. The werewolf physically felt the need his mate was emitting and let the animal loose in a rage of passion. Nothing could stop them until they were both satisfied and completely exhausted. Derek lay on his back basking in the pale light of the declining moon that filtered through the open window, while Stiles still breathed a little heavy. The smaller man curled into his side, one hand gliding over the defined muscles of his stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles Stilinski was still asleep late the next morning when Isaac sneaked into the room crawling into the bed next to him to nuzzle his neck.  
"Everything go okay last night?" The human was only half awake, when he asked the question.  
"Yes, he's really nice."  
"I'm glad for you. Where's Derek?"  
"He went for a run."  
Stiles shivered, suddenly cold. Never opening his eyes he pulled the blanket up his chest and immediately had a warm werewolf wrapped around himself. As the warmth spread he fell back asleep. An hour later his alpha came back. Derek had taken a shower and had only a towel around his hips, when he came into the room.  
"What's wrong?" He spoke so low, the human couldn't hear him only the young wolf in his bed.  
"He doesn't smell right."  
"In the left kitchen cabinet on the upper shelf is an herbal tea. Can you make some?"  
"Yes." The beta slid out of bed as gently as possible not to disturb the older boy.  
Derek put on some clothes and lay himself behind his mate engulfing him with his warm body. A few minutes later Isaac came back balancing a cup of tea, which he placed on the nightstand.  
"Thank you." He lifted himself into a seated position against the wall behind him. "Stiles, wake up." He shook him a little. Stiles moaned softly before he opened his eyes.  
"Hey, can you sit up."  
"Derek..."  
"Yeah."  
The human half pushed himself up, half got dragged up by his lover, until he leaned against his chest comfortably. Isaac handed the mug to his alpha, who lifted it close to Stiles' face, so he was inhaling the steam.  
"That smells awful." Stiles tried to bend his head away from the offending tea but immediately hit Derek's solid chest with the back of his head.  
"What do you think that smells like to us?" The alpha said mildly accusatory.  
Stiles sighed and took the mug from his mate and sipped at the tea. He was surprised when the taste wasn't nearly as bad as the smell. He had drunk half of the warm liquid when he started to really wake up. The fogginess had been lifted.  
"God, what is this stuff? Some magic herbs?"  
Derek kissed his temple and grinned. "Nothing magic about it."  
The young beta looked at Derek questioningly, to which the alpha slowly blinked once to assure him Stiles was okay. Isaac moved forward quickly and nuzzled the human’s neck for a few seconds before he left them.

Stiles felt normal again after he had had the tea and the rest of the weekend went by uneventful. The next week Stiles had two tests he had to study for and only saw Derek for an hour or so at a time before he got back to learning. At school he talked to Isaac at lunch a few times and he seemed to be getting closer to Danny, he even saw the two together a few times. Scott he only met briefly a couple of times and they still barely spoke. Lydia had hugged him tightly, very much to Jackson's displeasure. Friday morning Isaac sat behind him in English.  
"Hey, you wanna come to the club again?"  
Stiles half turned. "Tonight?"  
"Yeah. We are going at ten."  
"You really want to have me around on your date with Danny?"  
"He's cool with it and I like having you." The werewolf smiled shyly. "You can bring Derek."  
"Not sure that's his crowd, but I'll ask. I'll be at the house after school anyway. You there for dinner or are you meeting Danny early? I'm cooking."  
"Oh cool, I'll be there, can I get a ride home with you?"  
"Yeah, sure."  
After Lacrosse practice Stiles felt weak. Not just slightly exhausted from the physical workout but completely drained. He was leaning against the passenger side door of the jeep when the younger boy arrived. He threw the key at the blond, who easily caught it and then looked surprised.  
"You drive."  
Stiles got in and waited for Isaac to get in and start the car. He leant his head back and closed his eyes during the 15 minute drive. Isaac glanced over at him shortly before they arrived.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yeah...but I don't think I'll be going out tonight."  
The beta parked the car in front of the house and got out, but glanced back, when Stiles didn't move. "You coming?"  
"Give me a minute."  
Derek had come to the porch and looked questioningly at his pack member.  
"He smells weird again."  
Derek had a dark expression on his features arms crossed over his chest, as he watched his mate get out of the car slowly and coming towards him.  
"I am fine."  
He let his hand slide across Derek's cheek in passing. The human made his way to the kitchen to start dinner, while the alpha took his bags from the jeep inside. Isaac handed him a mug with the smelly tea as soon as he entered the room.  
"Thank you."  
He went on making the dough and instructed Isaac to make the tomato sauce for the pizza, while sipping from his tea every few minutes. In the time they waited for the pizza to bake he snuggled himself into one corner of the sofa opposite Boyd who watched some crime TV show he liked. Derek and Erica were setting the table. The alpha had set the last plate down and watched Stiles worriedly.   
"What's up with him?" Erica asked beside him.  
"I think he's getting the flu."  
"You sure? He smells funny."  
"Why do you all say that?" He shot the female a confused look.  
Erica looked positively shocked. "You can't smell it?"  
He sighed. "No."  
"How can you not smell that? I mean it's not bad or anything, but none the less pretty distinct."  
"I don't know."  
The timer chose that exact moment to signal that the pizza was ready, so Derek wasn't able to ponder on the topic. Instead he walked into the kitchen to retrieve their dinner from the oven and slice it. Boyd took the tray into the other room. Derek kneeled in front of the couch, when Stiles hadn't moved. He had a blank expression on his face.  
"Hey, you coming?"  
The boy snapped out of his apathy and looked directly into the bright eyes of his boyfriend. He let out a shaky breath. "Yeah."  
Stiles was silent throughout the meal and didn't eat much. But with Erica there it didn't really register, because the girl was always cheerful and loud and hungry for the attention of the males she never had, before she had let Derek turn her. She seemed happy, Stiles mused. When they had finished eating, the human retreated back to his previous spot on the couch, this time wrapping the blanket around him that usually lay on the back of it. The three betas cozied up beside him and turned the TV back on. At some point Stiles consulted his wristwatch.  
"Aren't you late for your date?"  
Isaac grabbed his wrist and twisted it, so he could see the face.  
"Oh shit." The blond sprang to his feet grabbed his jacket and keys than stopped and looked at Stiles.  
"Go. Have fun."

The young werewolf was out the door in an instant and ran through the woods and was at the club just in time without even breaking a sweat. Gotta love those werewolf powers. He smiled to himself. He found Danny a minute later in the crowd in front of the entrance. They started talking right away while they waited to be let in.  
"Where do you live anyway?"  
"Huh?"  
"I never asked before, but since your Dad..." He stopped himself mid sentence. "I'm sorry."  
"It's okay. I'm living in the big house in the woods."  
"The Hale House, they just finished renovating?"  
"That's the one."  
"Isn't this really scary guy living there. Isn't he the last Hale or something?"  
"Derek isn't that scary and he still has an uncle."  
"You live with him?"  
"Yes."  
"Ok. Stiles didn't wanna come today?"  
"He wanted to come, but he didn't feel well."  
"Oh."  
At that moment they reached the front of the line and were let in and Danny was side tracked from thinking further about their previous topics, while they got lost in the music and dancing. At the end of the night they were kissing and Isaac had never felt so wanted. Not in that way anyway.

The next day Derek all but killed his betas in training all day long while Stiles sat on the porch watching them and providing snacks and refreshments for the breaks. Not that they were granted many, but Stiles always took good care of his pack. Scott had become more reconcilable over the past days and his best friend could relax more in his presence again, though their relationship was still a little strained from the recent revelation.  
In the evening the young werewolves were exhausted scattered around the living room. Stiles stood in the doorway taking the scene in. Derek came up behind him and started nosing and breathing along the back of his neck before pressing a light kiss to his nape. The teenager turned toward him.  
"Come on, we'll start dinner."  
They worked side by side in the kitchen.  
"You are quiet today."  
"Am I?"  
"Yes, babe. You haven't said anything all day."  
"I guess I'm just tired."  
Derek leaned over to him and kissed his forehead briefly, but he could already feel the boy's body temperature rising.  
"You're running a fever."  
"No, I'm not." Stiles tried to step away from him, but tripped and would have fallen, if the alpha hadn't caught him and hugged him close.  
"Believe me, you are. You've been weak since yesterday."  
"I guess I am then."

After dinner Stiles trailed off upstairs to take a shower. The hot water made him woozy and he supported himself with both arms against the wall. He didn't even realize he wasn't alone anymore until Derek gently turned him around after stepping into the cabin with him. He lifted the younger man off his feet who slipped his legs around his waist automatically and gasped softly when the alpha entered him. He succumbed to the slow rhythm of their bodies with his back lightly pressed against the tiles. Stiles clutched at Derek's back, his head slumped to his shoulder where he bit down hard on the tanned flesh until he drew blood. The werewolf groaned at the pain, which woke the animal inside and soon drove him over the edge. He collapsed against his mate who was standing on his own two feet again. The water washed away the blood from his healing shoulder and from Stiles' face where it trickled down his chin. After he had cleaned them both up, he toweled them dry, Stiles first so he wouldn't freeze and himself only so he wouldn't drip. He helped the younger to put his pajamas on and made sure he was cocooned in multiple warm blankets, before he got dressed himself and slipped under the blankets as well.  
Waking up Derek was confused by the heat radiating towards his front, the damp fabric stuck to his bare chest and the wet hair his nose encountered at the back of Stiles' neck. Processing all those facts took only a few seconds and he slowly disentangled himself from his mate. He grabbed the boys shoulder to turn him onto his back. Stiles' head lolled to the side, his eyelids fluttered slightly but didn't open. Derek felt his forehead with the back of his hand.  
"Now you are really sick." He whispered the words to the room. "Stiles. Stiles can you wake up."  
The teenager lifted his heavy eyelids with an unsteady gaze. The wolf pulled him upright by a fist full of shirt and rid the boy of the sweaty t-shirt, then let him sink back to the mattress, covering him up again.  
"Sourwolf...?"  
"I'll be right back."  
"What got you all broody?" Boyd looked up from his cereal bowl.  
"Stiles is sick." Derek was already boiling water and putting some of the herbs into the tea net.  
"Dude that is awful." His beta whined.  
"As long as it helps. Do we have any medicine in the house?"  
"We don't get sick." He stated flatly.  
The alpha huffed. They got slashed and needed to get arrows and bullets dug out of their bodies, but they didn't ever need cough syrup or aspirin. While the tea was brewing, he called the sheriff to inform him about his son's condition and that he wouldn't be coming home any time soon.  
"How sick is he?"  
"He has a high fever and he's coughing a little bit."  
The Sheriff thought for a moment. "Can I sent Melissa over, to take a look at him?"  
"McCall?" Derek was confused.  
"Yes, she's a nurse. Is that ok?"  
"Yes...yes, of course. Listen, tell her to just come in, the front door is open."  
"Okay, I'll tell her."  
"You can come by anytime as well, you know that, right?"  
"Yes, I know."  
They said their goodbyes and Derek took the now ready tea up to his room. He put the mug on the nightstand and fetched a fresh shirt from his closet to put on Stiles. He helped the boy put it on, propped him against a few big pillows and handed him the tea.  
"Drink the tea and get some more rest. Miss McCall is gonna check on you later."  
"Okay." Stiles slurred the word a little.  
"If you need anything just say it. I make sure somebody will be here at any time."  
The alpha kissed his mate's temple and left.

Stiles was in and out of consciousness the whole day. At some point he had started shivering violently. The three present betas had felt it. One by one they came trailing into the room. Isaac came first and lay close over the full length of Stiles' body nuzzling his neck. A few minutes later Erica slipped into the room and situated herself on the other side of Stiles' body, just as close with her face nuzzled into his side. A while later Boyd came in last and curled himself over Stiles' feet with his head resting on the females legs.

When Melissa McCall made it to the Hale house after her shift in the late afternoon she stayed in the parked car for a minute and looked at the huge building. She had never seen the ruins that had been left after the fire, only pictures in the papers. She finally got out and went inside as instructed by the Sheriff to simply enter. Melissa looked around the hall.  
"Hello?" She uttered cautiously.  
"Upstairs, last door on the left." A disembodied voice told her and she was too surprised and unsure to investigate the source, so she followed the stairs and the hallway to the end. She opened the door silently went inside and closed the door again. The woman had nearly screamed, when two yellow glowing eyes were fixed on her on turning towards the bed, immediately joined by two additional pairs, when she dropped the bag startled. The movement on the bed woke the sleeping boy.  
"What...?" He waited a few seconds until he could focus properly. "Melissa?"  
"How are you Stiles?" She looked a little insecure between the wolves.  
"I'm...owww." He wanted to say fine, when he turned his head and blinding pain shot through his skull. He waited again until he could focus again and ruffled Isaac's curls then. "Go help Derek with dinner." The three young werewolves detached themselves from him and filed out as instructed.  
The woman stared after them for a moment. "Do they always sleep here?"  
"Uh, no. I was cold before. Did my father ask you to come?"  
"Yes. He said you were sick and didn't make it home. Why aren't you anyway?"  
"I got Dad to let me stay over on the weekends."  
"Yeah but why?"  
"Because I'm with Derek."  
"You're what...? You mean..."  
"Yes, that's what I mean. Didn't Scott tell you? That's why he's so pissed at me."  
While they were talking the nurse had gotten to work, taking his temperature, feeling his lymph nodes and gently rolling his head to make sure it wasn't stiff.  
"Your fever is really high. Are you drinking enough?"  
"Yeah, water and Derek has this magic tea."  
"Magic?" She looked at him incredulously.  
"Well, some herbal stuff. Smells awful, but it helps."  
"OK. Looks like a good old fashioned flu, take some aspirin for the headache and the fever and stay in bed for a few days. That should do it. A lot of fluids, if you are hungry and you can keep it down normal food."  
"Thank you, I really appreciate you coming out here on a Sunday."  
"It's okay. You're sick."  
"Still..."  
Melissa took a quick look around. "Your father still doesn't know, does he?"  
"About the whole your-town-is-full-of-werewolves-situation?" He sighed. "No, and I'm not sure how I would approach the subject."  
"He shouldn't find out by accident, like I did."  
"Yeah, that would probably be bad."  
"I'd say so."  
"I don't wanna keep you. Thanks again. I'm sure Scott is waiting for dinner." He tried a grin.  
"No, actually he's with Allison. So there's no one waiting."  
"You could always stay for dinner. Maybe the resident cooks could learn a thing or two." He raised his voice for the second sentence, well aware that the wolves would hear.  
"That bad?"  
"No, but it's a learning process. Sometimes it doesn't work out the first time. But I'm serious, you're welcome to stay."  
The woman thought for a moment then nodded slowly. "Okay."  
"Don't worry, they don't bite. Most of the time."  
She smiled to that and left the room to go downstairs. She took a left in the entrance hall, where she assumed the kitchen would be. She was rewarded with the sight of three young men and one woman cutting vegetables, making sauce and putting chicken into a frying pan. The second she entered the room they all looked at her.  
"Ehm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Stiles said I could stay."  
"No, you should stay. We haven't been formally introduced. Derek Hale."  
The alpha came towards her with an outstretched hand, which she grabbed and shook.  
"Melissa McCall."  
"Yes." He actually had the hint of a smile on his lips. "Can I get you something to drink?"  
"Water, please. Can I help with anything?"  
"Yeah, sure."  
Isaac immediately gave up his kitchen activity, handed over the knife and bolted upstairs.  
"Where's he going?"  
"Stiles. He is very attached."  
"I thought you and Stiles...?"  
"Yes, we are together. This is a pack thing." He gestured towards the stairs.  
"From the way I found you, you're all pretty attached."  
"Also a pack thing and Stiles needed the extra blankets." Derek said with a smirk.  
"But Stiles isn't a..." She shied from the word werewolf.  
"He's still pack."  
"I see."  
Half an hour later dinner was ready and they had finished setting the table.  
"Isaac. Dinner." Derek said loudly, not bothering to actually yell in case Stiles was asleep.  
The blond werewolf lifted his head from where he had returned to nuzzle Stiles' neck, when he heard his alpha call him to dinner.  
"Are you coming down for dinner?" He asked softly.  
The human opened his eyes slowly and rubbed over his face. "Yeah."  
Isaac got out of bed, while Stiles was sitting up.  
"Can you get me the robe."  
The wolf took it from the hanger on the door and helped Stiles into it. They made their way downstairs slowly, Isaac cautiously beside him, not to have him fall.  
The others already sat around the table waiting for them. Derek sat at the head of the table and his mate shuffled into the seat to his left. He lay his hand above Derek's, while descending to his chair. He didn't eat much, mostly he only forked around in his rice. As the others were finishing their meal his eyes got droopy and about to close, when Derek gently pulled him to his feet and maneuvered him upstairs and back into bed.  
"Sleep tight, honey." The dark haired man placed a few kisses across Stiles' face.  
"I love you." Stiles voice was weak and the fever rising again.  
"You, too." Derek kissed his lips and left.

Melissa McCall was about to leave, when the alpha came back down.  
"Thank you for dinner."  
"Anytime, not sure how Scott feels about it though."  
"Stiles told me, they are a little at odds right now, because of your relationship with him."  
Derek furrowed his brows. "No, because we have been for the last six months."  
"Why didn't you tell him?"  
The werewolf fixed her with a dark scowl.  
"I'm sorry, it's not my place..."  
Derek's expression relaxed somewhat. "Neither is it mine."  
At that moment the woman understood and she nodded slowly, then went home.

The alpha sat in the armchair in his room for a couple of hours just watching Stiles sleep. Usually the boy slept fairly calm, but tonight he twitched and turned a lot. Around one in the morning he decided to go running and only returned when the sun was coming up. He entered the house with a torn and bloody shirt hanging from his torso.  
"What happened to you?" Erica asked over her bowl of cereals fairly disinterested.  
"Stray omega looking for trouble."  
Without stopping he went upstairs to take a shower. Still drying his hair, only dressed in jeans, he came back down. Derek Hale went straight for the door and opened it before the Sheriff had time to knock.  
"Morning, Sheriff." He heard how his betas inside scrambled upstairs, out of sight.  
"Good Morning." Stiles' father sighed. "How is he?"  
"The fever is still pretty high. Miss McCall said he should stay in bed a couple more days, until the fever goes down."  
They moved into the entrance hall. "Is he awake?"  
"I'll take a look."  
Derek moved upstairs, but when he reached the landing his mate came around the corner, almost falling into him and placing a kiss on his lips. Stiles drew the kiss out a little moving his lips across the older man's a few times before he pulled his head a few inches away, to look at Derek.  
"Hi." He said softly.  
The werewolf kissed his temple and moved his mouth beside his ear.  
"Your father is here to check on you." He whispered.  
The teen turned his head to the side, looking directly into his father's eyes, who stood at the foot of the stairs.  
"Morning, Dad."  
"Good morning, son."  
Stiles descended the steps slowly, his left hand never leaving the handrail. As he stood before the older man, the Sheriff felt his forehead with the back of his hand.  
"Wow, that is warm. You should go back to bed."  
"I am. After I make some tea." He wandered off into the kitchen and his father followed.  
"But you are ok?"  
"Yes, Dad."  
"Aren't you afraid you might infect him?" John Stilinski made a vague hand motion towards the ceiling, referring to the kiss his son had shared with his boyfriend a minute ago.  
"He doesn't get sick."  
"Ever?"  
"Never."  
"Ok, well, I just wanted to check on you. I already called the school to inform them, that you won't be there."  
"Thank you." He finished making the tea.  
"I'll be at work. Get some rest."  
"I will, Dad."  
The Sheriff hugged his son for a moment and left. Stiles made his way back to the bedroom, where he snuggled back into the covers sipping his tea. Derek caught the mug just in time, as Stiles drifted to sleep with a loosening grip. He tugged his mate in and left again. Stiles slept all day, he only came to, when his stomach started to growl. He slowly opened his eyes to the fading light of the sun glistening in Erica's blond curls spread across his chest. Absent-mindedly he weaved his fingers through her hair.  
"What's wrong?" His voice croaked from lack of use.  
"Bad day." She whispered.  
"You wanna tell me?"  
The younger female snuggled further into his side.  
"It's okay." He kept playing with the curls. "Is there gonna be food anytime soon?"  
She nodded against him. "Lasagna."  
"That sounds delicious."  
After a while, he had continued to stroke Erica's hair, Derek slipped into the room silently. The teenager threw him a questioning look with a hint to the beta. His lover just shrugged and leaned forward to kiss him intensely, when he reached the bed.  
"Dinner is ready in five."  
Erica gave her alpha a nasty look and ran from the room.  
"What's with her?"  
"She didn't say. Did you do something?"  
Derek gave him a pointed look, accompanied by a low growl. "She went straight to you, when she got home." Admittedly the alpha wasn't good with the touchy feely, but when he got rough with his beta's he usually knew what he had done.  
"I'll try to find out."  
The alpha was sitting on the edge of his bed and Stiles crawled into his lap and wrapped himself around the man's torso. Dragging his face along the curve of the wolf's neck, he breathed deeply in and out. His nose slid through the hair behind his ear until Stiles mouth was on his ear. His breath ghosting along the shell.  
"I love you."  
The bone crushing embrace that followed his whispered words was all the response the teenager needed. He had thought he needed it to be said back to him, but he really didn't, at least not nearly as much as he needed to say it and needed it to be heard. Even if he was unable to voice the words himself most of the time, Derek Hale needed to hear his mate say those three little words as often as he would utter them. He craved the soft tone they were spoken in. Just for him.  
He stood up and let the boy slide down to stand on his own feet. When he was certain Stiles wouldn't fall, he got the robe for him and they headed downstairs. In the comfort of home Isaac never could help himself to nuzzle Stiles' neck, when he hadn't seen him in a while, which in this case was since the day before. For some reason the young werewolf didn't realize himself, he continued to nuzzle the alpha's neck as well. The contact only lasted a second and was gone before Derek could muster a response. He just looked at his mate and decided he liked it. The beta's were more than comfortable to touch and nuzzle Stiles in every way they saw fit, according to the situation at hand, but when it came to the fearsome alpha, every physical contact was made with caution.

Stiles was still sitting in his chair sipping tea, while the others cleaned up around him, when Scott walked in. The human was surprised to see his friend standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The wolves had registered his presence long before he had entered and merely acknowledged him.  
"Hi."  
"I heard you were sick."  
"Well, I'm still alive."  
"That's good."  
Stiles noticed how Boyd slipped out of the kitchen, a plate of food in hand, no doubt for Erica. Now he was almost certain that the tall boy had in some way royally screwed up. Stiles finished his tea and rinsed the mug. In turning he felt the sudden tight grip on his arm, belonging to his mate, an instant before the world started to spin uncomfortably. He breathed deeply a couple of times, until his vision steadied.  
"I don't know about you, but Stiles needs to go back to a horizontal surface and preferably sleep." It always worked to get his point across, talking about himself in the third person.  
"Okay, good night." Scott got the hint and also the slightly unwelcoming atmosphere, which Derek sent his way.

"It was Boyd."  
"Thanks for instantly accusing me, then." The alpha replied climbing into bed behind his mate.  
"Sorry..." Stiles was already losing consciousness as his head hit the pillow and he felt his lovers embrace engulf him in warmth.  
The next day Stiles was still sleeping his fever off. His father had come by briefly in the morning to check on him and was satisfied to see that his son was better, still sick but on his way to recovering. He was up a few times, but only to wander downstairs and get himself tea or something to eat. He had fallen asleep in the bright afternoon sun and only stirred a little when Isaac had crawled onto the bed and nuzzled his neck. The young werewolf dozed off as well, concentrating on the other boy's breathing and heartbeat.  
Isaac's head jerked up, when he heard someone entering the room with unfamiliar movements. Stiles also woke from the sudden movement and his ability to focus returned just in time.  
"No, he's a friend." He shouted.  
The alpha retracted claws, fangs and glowing eyes in the fraction of a second, before the boy in front of him turned around and jumped away from the death glare and the man standing directly behind him. Derek Hale had come home to a car he'd never seen before sitting in front of the mansion and the scent of an unknown person leading inside. He had followed the human to the door to his own bedroom. Stiles had noticed the red glow of his eyes in the dark hallway behind Danny not a second too soon.  
"Danny what are you doing here?" Stiles asked.  
Their team mate flicked his gaze uneasy between the two boys on the bed and the dark haired man. "Isaac wasn't at practice and I wanted to check on him." He stuttered.  
"You always wander into other people's houses?" Derek barked.  
"I...uh..."  
Isaac reacted fast got up and beside Danny. Stiles got up himself and tugged the older man towards him out of the doorway, so Isaac could usher his boyfriend out. In the corner of his eye he saw Stiles snake his arms around the others waist, before they were out of sight and he was dragged outside by the blond.  
"Why didn't you call or text or whatever, before you came here?" Isaac urged him.  
"I didn't think it mattered. I was worried about you."  
"Derek could have killed you."  
"What?" He stared at the other boy blankly.  
"Walking into his bedroom, with nobody knowing you were coming and Stiles there..."  
"HIS bedroom?" He looked dumbfounded. "Wait, why were you there?"  
"Stiles is sick." The werewolf sounded like it was the most logical explanation there was.  
"Why is he even here?"  
"He's sick."  
"THAT is Stiles' boyfriend?" His mind finally caught up to the bedroom part.  
"Yes." He sighed. "Wait here."  
Isaac ran into the house and walked back into Derek's bedroom.  
"I'll be out tonight."  
"Make sure he doesn't come back here." The alpha growled at him.  
"I'm sorry."  
"Just...surprises are dangerous." Stiles said in a defeated tone.  
"I promise."  
The young man glowered at his beta, but Stiles caught his face and turned it to his.  
"Derek." A mild warning in his voice.  
His mate snarled at him. Stiles was fairly unimpressed and looked past him at the insecure blond.  
"It's okay. Go."  
Looking back into his lovers eyes, Derek's still glowed red back at him. The alpha had a pack now, a family, he cared for and protected and taught, but the old anger still burned bright within every fiber of his being. It was tamed, but never went away and erupted at danger.  
Stiles stroked his face, smoothing the deep frown. "It wasn't his fault." He whispered in between butterfly kisses he placed across his lover's face. Derek didn't answer him, just huffed and let his mate draw him into a tight hug, which he returned. The teenager lay his head on the wolf's shoulder and started to fall asleep right there supported by the older man. Derek lifted his slim body up and the almost unconscious boy wrapped his legs around his waist. He carefully laid both of them on the bed and curled himself around the human, to keep him warm, to keep him safe.

Isaac had dragged Danny to his car and had told the goalie to drive.  
"Where to?" Danny questioned him.  
"Doesn't matter."  
He kept driving for a few minutes and parked in front of his house.  
"What was that?" He asked quietly. "I know Stiles is your friend, but that..."  
"He is very important to me, so is Derek."  
"He seems dangerous."  
"He is protective of us, especially Stiles and going into the house unannounced and into the room Stiles was sleeping in, got him on edge."  
"You were there."  
"Yes."  
"Your face was at his neck."  
"Yes."  
"Why?"  
"For comfort, he is sick."  
"So, there is nothing else?" The other boy looked at him skeptically.  
"No. You just picked a bad moment to come over."  
"They are intense."  
"Yes."  
The werewolf grabbed the others hand gently and interlaced their fingers.  
"Stiles is my friend and we are close, but nothing else. And like he said before, he is as unavailable as one can possibly be." He smiled shyly.  
"Okay." Danny could accept that. They went on to his room.

After dinner, for which neither the alpha nor his mate had shown up, Boyd looked into their room. Stiles lifted his head a little to look at him.  
"Did you fix it?" He asked regarding Erica.  
"Yeah." Satisfied that they were fine, he nodded and left.  
"Stop mothering them." Derek murmured a few seconds later, when Boyd was already down the hall.  
"I'm n..." He made a brief pause. "Okay, maybe a little. So what, they need it."  
"One of these days they'll start calling you mom." The alpha let out a low chuckle.

The next evening Stiles drove home after dinner. His fever was gone, he only coughed every once in a while and his father was getting antsy about him staying at the mansion so long.  
"Bye, mom." Erica chirped, as he was about to leave.  
"Really?" He asked exasperated. "How...? Of course you heard, why am I even asking."  
Before he could say anything else Isaac was nuzzling his neck, like he always did. "Bye...mom?" The taller boy looked at him shyly. Stiles reached his hand to touch his cheek gently. He sighed with a mild smile on his features. "It's okay."  
"Yeah?"  
"Yes."

His father was actually home, when he got there.  
"Thought you'd never come home."  
"It was five days, dad. But I'm home now and I'm better."  
"So, you'll go to school tomorrow?"  
"Yeah."

Two weekends later he was relaxing in the living room lying on the couch. His eyes were closed and he was just enjoying the rare silence of the mansion. Everyone was out.  
"Hello, Stiles."  
The boy sighed heavily. "Oh goody, Peter. And I thought I'd have a quiet afternoon."  
"You still..." The wolf turned his head in every direction, breathing carefully. "Where is my dear nephew?"  
"As if you don't know." Stiles merely pointed behind him from his position.  
"What do you want?" The alpha asked, while Stiles went back to doing nothing.  
Peter Hale motioned for Derek to go outside and stopped a good distance from the house.  
"Did you tell him?"  
"Tell him what?" Derek asked suspiciously.  
"When's his birthday?"  
"Three weeks. What are you getting at?"  
"He's started to change. Was he sick?"  
"Couple of weeks ago. It was just the flu."  
"No. No, it wasn't. He's an alpha mate and he's turning eighteen. You didn't notice anything?"  
The younger man frowned. "The beta's said he smelled weird."  
"Because he's starting to smell like you."  
"No, I would have noticed and the others..." He was cut off by his uncle.  
"How? They don't know what is happening, they can't distinguish mixing scents, especially two people that are around them all the time. And you can't smell it because he is taking on your own scent."  
"What are you saying?" Their voices were raised by now.  
"If you want him to ever have a chance of a normal life, you have to let him go, before it is too late."  
Derek Hale sucked in air and immediately looked toward the porch, when Stiles scent hit him.  
The human came closer. "What is he talking about?" He asked his lover.  
"I am talking about the fact, that if you are with him, when you turn eighteen you will change. And there is no going back. You will be bonded for the rest of your lives. You are human, you can still get out. The flu you had, wasn't. It was your body starting to change."  
"Into what?"  
"Part of him. It will fade, if you leave now. You will return to normal."  
"I can't..."  
The younger wolf had been stiff, but now he roared at his uncle and Stiles was pretty sure the whole county heard him, at least all that was supernatural in Beacon Hills.  
"Go home, Stiles."  
The teenager flinched at his tone of voice and the vibration that ripped through his body.  
"Go." He screamed at the boy, eyes blood red.  
Stiles was too shocked to say anything, feel anything but numbness spreading as he stumbled backwards to his car and drove away.


	3. Chapter 3

Everything went on remote after that. He parked his car in front of his house, he got inside, went to his room, kicked off his shoes and lay on his bed. He didn't move, until morning crept up over the horizon and he heard his father get up and move downstairs in the kitchen. Stiles hadn't slept, he had just stared at the wall. He sighed and got up himself.  
"Hi, dad."  
His father turned around in surprise. "Good morning, son. I thought you were at Derek's for the weekend?"  
The boy just shrugged and poured himself a cup of coffee, before he shuffled back upstairs. Stiles sat at his desk staring at his computer screen blankly, doing nothing. He couldn't focus and every time his thoughts wandered to Derek he flinched, remembering the murderous red eyes directed at him. He didn't want to think about him anymore. Suddenly he felt how tired his body was, how much he needed to rest. He curled up on his bed and soon fell into restless, but also dreamless deep sleep. He didn't hear his phone and the five messages that were left on it from Scott, Isaac and Lydia, when he didn't show up for the pack meeting and the alpha hadn't offered any plausible explanation.

Monday morning had never been one of his favorites, but today he really wished he had stayed at home. One by one, all the members of the pack tried to talk to him, about what had happened with their alpha, because any mention of Stiles' name in his presence earned them violent growls, none of them wanted to hear ever again. Isaac was even afraid to go home, which resulted in him climbing into Stiles room and crawling into bed with him, after the older boy had turned in for the night. Stiles kissed his temple and hugged him tight. He needed his pup just as much right now as he needed him. He realized much later that he had started to think of the betas as his pups, probably around the time they all had started calling him mom, at some point even Scott and Jackson.  
And now he was losing it all. He started to cry silently, gentle sobs shaking his thin frame until he drifted into unconsciousness. His alarm went off at seven. Stiles tried to move and opened his eyes, when he noticed he couldn't, because he was covered in wolves instead of blankets. An additional two to the one he already had in his arms, when he fell asleep. Erica lay half on top of him, Isaac was still curled up into him on the other side and Boyd was wrapped around the only female in the room.  
"Whoever can reach, shut off the alarm." He groaned.  
Incidentally that was Boyd, who gave the button a rather gentle push. Stiles sighed in relief.  
"Who wants breakfast?"  
Ten minutes later the Sheriff came down into his kitchen to find it occupied by not one, but four teenagers munching their cereals.  
"Morning, dad."  
"Good...morning."  
The werewolves each mumbled a greeting around their breakfast, only briefly looking up. His father remembered having seen them with his son before, so he just got his coffee and left for work, none the less wondering, when they had gotten there.  
"What happened, mom?" Isaac asked tentatively, when the sheriff had pulled out of the driveway.  
Stiles supported his weight on his outstretched arms beside his body above the sink, where he had just put his bowl. He lowered his head and felt tears pricking at his eyes and falling involuntarily. He breathed through his tears, trying to calm down. He wasn't growling or shouting at them, but for the moment his pups didn't dare touch him just as much as they did Derek. His sadness had an underlying rage that was entirely as fearsome as the alpha's open one. They could sense his deceptive emotions, even if they looked a whole lot different on his exterior.  
"I'll be right back, then we can go to school." The human breathed heavily one more time and went upstairs to clean himself up. The wolves waited for him by the door patiently and filed into the jeep, after a quick nod from their mom. None of them brought his emotional state up again.  
Scott on the other hand didn't have enough self preservation to do so. "Dude, have you been crying?" He asked, when the other put some books into his locker.  
The human sighed, his head hanging and slightly shook it. "Don't."  
"What? Don't what?" Clueless as ever and no tact whatsoever.  
"Don't go there."  
"Why? Derek went completely berserk, what happened?"  
"I said DON'T." He had raised his voice, which earned them several weirded-out looks from other students. Scott finally looked at him in utter surprise, when Stiles' anger hit him like a punch to the face. He went home after class, skipping lacrosse practice. The beta's frequented his bed every other night and even Scott showed up for movie night a few times. Lydia and Jackson showed up once for movies so did Allison. He was not quite friends with her again, but they were getting there.  
As far as the reason went, both of them stone walled the pack. Stiles wouldn't answer any questions regarding the matter and no one in their right mind, that didn't want their throat ripped out, dared ask Derek.

"He cries himself to sleep every night."  
Isaac couldn't bare not talking to his alpha anymore. Strictly speaking he was talking at a closed door, but on the other side was the steady beat of Derek's heart.

On Friday, when Stiles came home after practice, he stayed in his car for a moment when he saw who was waiting in front of his door. He finally got out and made his way to the house.  
"What do you want?" He unlocked the door and left it open for the older man to follow.  
"You are letting me come in?"  
"Can't have you lurking in front of my house. So, what do you want?"  
"You're still changing. Have you seen him since...?"  
"You mean, since you told him I needed to have a NORMAL life, that didn't include him and all the supernatural stuff that comes with that? NO, I haven't." He glared at Peter. "I so hope that hurts." He had seen the bandage across the werewolf's chest slightly seeped through.  
"It does and it won't heal properly."  
"Good." Stiles sobbed. "Do you hate him so much, that you can't stand to see him happy?"  
Peter remained calm. "You are 17. Don't throw your life away."  
"My life means nothing without him and the pack. I love them."  
"You can move on."  
"How? You just said I'm still changing and in two weeks there is nothing you can do about it."  
"You have to let him go."  
"Why?" His voice broke.  
"You are human and you will die." He had a sad expression on his face.  
"We all die." He stared into the others bright blue eyes. "My mom died, your family died, Laura died."  
"He sent you away." Peter said softly. "And he hasn't come to get you back."  
"Don't you get it? You are his only living relative left and for some completely screwed up reason he still listens to what you say." Stiles shook his head lightly. "Please leave us be." He pleaded. "I love him and I don't want to be with anybody else ever again."  
"You really love him..."  
"And when I die, I know I have lived with him and not something I have settled for."

That night only Isaac came crawling into his bed. Stiles hugged him tight, burying his face in the blond curls.  
"Don't ever leave him. No matter what he does, don't leave him alone."  
"He has calmed down a little."  
"That's good." He started to cry, like he did every night until he fell asleep.

The following week nothing changed, except that Stiles grew calmer and colder, as the moon became fuller each day. The scrawny hyperactive kid began to vanish, being replaced by something no one recognized. His movements lost their hectic becoming almost graceful and fluent.  
The first to really notice was Danny, when Stiles crossed the parking lot at the Jungle coming towards him and Isaac on Friday night. The whole way he stared at the shorter boy awestruck, but didn't say anything. This was still Stiles, who like before situated himself in a corner of the club.  
"I'm going outside for some fresh air." He didn't have to be close to his pup, for him to hear clearly, when he passed him on his way out a couple of hours later.  
He had sensed the man who followed him. Stiles leant with his back against the cool brick wall and stared up at the almost full moon, when his gaze was distracted by the man who stood himself before him. The boy could still appreciate the others marvelous physique and the beautifully symmetric face framed by brown waves. The appreciation ended as soon as he was kissed roughly without invitation. The surprise moment lasted only a few seconds and Stiles pushed his open hand under the slightly older man's jaw. The destabilizing jolt upwards, gave him enough momentum to change their positions and slam him into the wall with a dull thud.  
"If you want to kiss someone ask first."  
Stiles Stilinski went back inside to tell Isaac he was leaving. The younger boy looked at him worried.  
"No, honey. I'm okay. Stay, have fun." He had spoken softly, not to be overheard.  
"Bye, mom." Isaac had spoken just as softly, but Stiles heard him and smiled up at him.

Derek hadn't spoken to anyone in two weeks now, but Isaac always stopped in front of his door at night and told him about his mate. He also did so when he came home in the early morning hours.  
"He has changed." He simply stated.  
Surprisingly enough the door opened and revealed his red eyed alpha.  
"He is faster and stronger and he hears better."  
The beta nuzzled his neck briefly and took a deep breath of his scent with him, as he went to bed.

Stiles Stilinski stood in the middle of the woods on a small clearing and stared at the full moon that illuminated the night, feeling it pull in every cell of his body. His pale skin seemed almost translucent in the silver light. He closed his eyes, as the wind rustled through the leaves.  
"Stiles?"  
"Go away." His voice was only just loud enough for the older man to hear, who stopped a few yards from him.  
"What are you doing out here alone on a full moon?"  
He had been calm. He knew Derek's anger always burned bright and hot, but his right now was stone cold ice, freezing every emotion he had.  
"Fuck off, Argent." He was so not in the mood for Allison's father. He was barely at civil speaking terms with Chris on a good day, but this really wasn't anywhere near good. His voice cut through the night dripping underlying rage and the hunter actually retreated.  
The hunters of Beacon Hills and the Hale pack were in a fragile state of peace and Chris Argent still held their hunter code high enough, not to harm a human, even if he was part of a werewolf pack. And this particular one didn't seem like the boy he occasionally saw on the street at all. He held a knife in his right hand, the blade glistening in the pale moonlight and the alpha had trained him as well, not just his betas. The scrawny kid whose only defense was sarcasm wasn't there anymore.  
"You really shouldn't be out here by yourself." He tried again. Hunter or not, he was still a father.  
Now Stiles turned towards him, tear streaks reflecting light, but there was no sadness.  
"Didn't you hear me? Get the fuck out of here and take your misfits with you." Stiles had noticed the additional shadows around him, but he didn't care one bit. The words were thrown at the man in disgust and he backed off farther. Some of the other hunters had wanted to attack the boy, but Chris had held up a hand to stop them. This was a mess he didn't need. The teenager was out for blood, if somebody was foolish enough to challenge him. He signaled his men to move on.

Stiles just stood there feeling the moon and listening to everything. That's when he heard the rustling coming towards him fast. Getting louder by the second, until it stopped a few yards from him. The boy opened his eyes slowly and looked into the yellow eyes staring back at him.  
"You should move along, this is Hale territory."  
The teen wasn't entirely sure how well the wolf could access the human side, or if it was a matter of position in a pack, or different for each individual. He knew Derek always had enough control to change back. Derek. His boyfriend, his lover, his alpha, his LIFE. He blinked slowly and when he opened his eyes, there was an icy gleam in them, reflecting the moonlight.  
"Last chance to get out of here."  
The omega hesitated. He looked around and started to circle the human, who mirrored his movements. The werewolf took a swing at his head. Stiles ducked and brought the knife up, which lodged itself between the monsters ribs slicing through his heart. The body slumped to the ground. The boy slowly righted his own body and gazed down at the dead thing lying to his feet for several minutes. He heard the hunters coming back to his position soon after. Chris Argent approached him carefully.  
"Jesus, you need to go to the hospital." He exclaimed.  
Stiles only then noticed something dripping from his eyebrow into his lashes and from his chin and the taste of blood on his lips. He hadn't even felt the claws cutting into his flesh. Four had left deep gashes, on his forehead starting at the temple, the nose, three on his cheek and jaw, one of them ending in his upper lip on the left side of his face.  
He pulled the blade out of the dead creature’s chest. "I need to go home. You can take care of that. You're good at this kind of thing, right." He simply turned around and morphed into the shadows.

He was walking a slow steady pace, not thinking, he just let his feet carry him. As the adrenaline ebbed away, he started to feel the pain of his wounds, the still flowing blood, dripping from his face, but at the same time an itch that tugged inside the gashes. He was aware that he hadn't paid any attention to where he was going, but he wasn't surprised when the silhouette of the Hale mansion came into view.

They were about to go running and checking their territory for intruders, when the alpha suddenly sucked in air deeply. His eyes turned crimson and he ran outside, followed by his beta's, who hadn't yet caught on to what he had smelled, because his senses were incredibly more fine-tuned. As soon as they were outside the smell of blood and Stiles hit them, too.  
Stiles walked down the slope leading to the house, when he saw the erratic, fast movement coming towards him. Derek stopped directly in front of him, eying and sniffing him cautiously.  
"Hi Sourwolf." He fell forward and hugged the older man tight, tears mixing into the blood.  
The knife had fallen to the ground, not needed anymore. Derek grabbed the arms around his neck softly and pulled them away, so he could step back and look at the boy. He couldn't move, just stare. Stare at the wounds on the human’s face, the shirt that was soaked in his own blood, which kept dripping from his chin and flowing down his neck, his eyes. His eyes were wrong. He put his fingers under the teens chin on the good side and turned it to face the moon. They caught the moonlight and reflected it, turning ice blue.  
"Who did this?" The alpha asked in a low voice.  
"An omega." Stiles sounded tired, but steady.  
"Where?"  
He looked around. "I don't know."  
"Try to remember."  
"It doesn't matter, he's dead." He gazed down at the fallen bloody knife.  
The wolves gaped at him.  
"Argent took care of it."  
"You were with them?" He remained calm.  
"No." Stiles looked at him, like he was stupid. "They happened to come by, always sneaking through the woods."  
"But you killed him?"  
"He attacked me."  
"Jackson, Boyd."  
He nodded at the two betas to go check it out. He took his mate's elbow gently and guided him into the house and sat him down in the kitchen. Derek knelt before him and took the dish towel Isaac handed him, to start cleaning the blood away. Scott pulled the hoodie off and the alpha ripped the t-shirt off. He wiped the blood from his neck and made sure the towel caught any more. He lay his hands on the boy's right cheek and on the other side of his neck. The werewolf lowered his head and closed his eyes concentrating on Stiles. Slowly the gashes began to close and black veins crawled up Derek's arms. When he let his hands slide down, the human was left with some ugly bright red streaks across his face, but no more blood.  
Derek Hale stood and looked down at, to him, the most perfect face there was, whole again. Pale skin, moles strewn all over, soft lips and golden eyes gazing up at him.  
"You should take a shower, before I take you home." The older man said in a neutral tone.  
"I am home and I'm not going anywhere."  
It was true, he finally felt himself again, whole and at home with his wolves around him. Derek sighed.  
"You're not getting rid of me." He stood up as well and placed his hand on the others cheek, who leaned into the touch and closed his eyes for a moment. The betas just stared, while Stiles took Derek's hand and pulled him with him upstairs to their room. The boy discarded the rest of his clothes and slipped into the shower. When he came out, towel wrapped around his hips, the alpha had changed his blood smeared shirt and cleaned it off his hands and neck, where he had touched him. Without hesitation he stepped into his personal space and kissed his lips briefly.  
"I could never give you up." Another kiss followed.  
"You changed because of me..." Regret reflected in the wolf's eyes.  
"No, I changed because I made a choice a long time ago."  
"But you can never go back..."  
"I knew, what I was getting into. Well not the changing part, but the rest of my life part, I wasn't sketchy about." Stiles stepped farther into him, their chests touching. He could feel the fast heartbeat and the labored breaths the older man was taking and how it hitched, when he nosed along his neck, kissing his way along the stubbled jaw to the thin lips, that parted at his touch. Their first real kiss in two weeks was heated, their tongues dueling for control until Stiles stepped back, out of breath, smiling. God, Derek had missed that smile.  
"I love you."  
"Why?"  
The boy kept smiling, he knew the wolf was still working on his trust issues. "I just do."

They went back downstairs, just as Boyd and Jackson came back, they nodded at their alpha and were relieved to see Stiles healed and holding hands with his mate.  
"Movie?" Scott asked.  
It was very late, maybe rather early, but it was the weekend and they needed to calm down and bond before anybody could go to sleep. Derek and Stiles sat in the middle of the couch, with the human draped across his lover. Isaac curled himself against Derek, touching large parts of both him and Stiles, while Erica snuggled herself into Stiles on the other side, Boyd sat to her feet, beside him in front of Stiles was Scott and Jackson in front of Isaac leaning his head against his knees.  
The human let himself be lulled by their heartbeats, which eerily synched up and beat as one. His heightened senses were something he had to get used to, but he already loved his new ability to smell his mate with an intensity, that was overwhelming. His forehead rested against Derek's neck and he soaked in his scent with every breath, filling him.

"We need to tell my dad." Stiles said over his pancakes.  
"You mean tell your father, the sheriff, that his town is filled with werewolves?"  
"He has to know eventually. I'm turning 18 next week and I physically changed. I'd rather do this now, than when he figures it out on his own."  
"Ok."  
"After breakfast."  
Derek had almost choked on his food and his gaze flicked up to stare at his mate. As did the remaining pack members.  
"Don't worry you can all stay here. He's coming, though." He nodded towards Derek.  
"Great, so he can shoot me right there?"  
"Nobody is gonna shoot anybody." He fixed the wolf with a stern look. "Grow up."  
The pups snickered. "Oh, you DO wanna come. That's ok, too." He smiled wickedly.  
The betas had never fled the dining room faster. "So it will just be us, then." He smiled.

"Dad." Stiles called into the silent house. He closed the door, when his father answered.  
"In the kitchen."  
He dragged his lover along, his hand clasping Derek's, until he looked at his father.  
"Dad, I, uh, we have to tell you something."  
The sheriff eyed them skeptically. "Don't tell me, you're running off with him to get married and skip out on college."  
"No, dad. Not yet anyway. And I AM going to college." Stiles said firmly. Derek just narrowed his eyes briefly at his answers and the sequence in which they were uttered.  
"Soo...?" He raised his eyebrows and then squinted, when he noticed the marks on his son's face.  
"What the hell happened to you?" He took his chin in one hand and turned his head to see better.  
"That is part of what we want to tell you. It'll be gone in a day or two."  
Sheriff Stilinski suddenly spread the fingers of his right hand and set them against the streaks.  
"Are those made by fingernails?"  
"Claws." His son clarified.  
"Of what?"  
Stiles squeezed his lover's hand and looked directly into his father's eyes. "A werewolf."  
"A...what?"  
"Werewolf, you know, claws, fangs, full moon kinda thing."  
"Are you drunk? Did you give him alcohol?" He turned to the dark haired man.  
" 'fraid not. He's sober."  
"You believe werewolves exist?"  
"I know they do."  
"And you do..." The sheriff gestured uncoordinated.  
"No, I am." Derek said calmly.  
"You are...?" He was confused.  
"A werewolf." His eyes turned crimson for a moment, which was enough for the older man to stumble backwards in surprise, until he hit the counter.  
"Did you do that?" His thoughts were right back to the wellbeing of his son.  
"None of the pack would ever hurt Stiles." The alpha stated blankly.  
"Pack?"  
"Yes."  
"And your pack..."  
"Boyd, Isaac, Erica, Jackson and Scott." Stiles answered instead.  
"Wait, Scott is...?"  
"Scott is a werewolf, too."  
Sheriff Stilinski looked at his son intensely.  
"No, I'm not, have you seen me?" He actually chuckled.  
"You changed lately..."  
"So you did notice, but that's a whole other can of worms."  
"Son, you were completely out of it, for the past two weeks. You cried at night..."  
Derek lowered his gaze, his face closed off.  
"So that was your fault?" He asked for confirmation.  
Stiles squeezed his hand again. "We had some stuff to work through, dad."  
"And now you are..."  
"What?" He questioned his father.  
"Different. Calm."  
"I'm still me, slightly enhanced, but still me, dad."  
"Enhanced how?" Now the sheriff was more confused than he already was.  
"Being an alpha mate gets you some of the advantages of wolfyness, like heightened senses."  
His father just gaped.  
"Ok. He's the alpha, I'm with him and I'm turning 18 and so I apparently get some of the nicer perks of being a werewolf, without becoming one." He sighed. "Will you please calm down, dad. Your heart is racing."  
His father kept staring at him.  
"I can hear it."  
Sheriff Stilinski moved to the dining room and sat down at the table. The couple followed him.  
"Dad." He whispered.  
Derek tugged at his hand to leave, but Stiles wouldn't budge.  
"Dad, please say something."  
"Can you...leave...Just...I need a moment."  
"Yes, dad."  
This time the alpha forced the younger man to follow him out. Once they were at the car, he turned him towards himself.  
"He's ok. He'll calm down and he did take most of it pretty well." Stiles wasn't convinced.  
"Come here." The werewolf pulled him in for a short but intense kiss, before they left for the house.

The sheriff took a while to compose himself. When his breathing was steady again and his heart had slowed to its normal rhythm he looked at the clock. It was two in the afternoon, so he decided to do the only thing that came to mind, drive over to the McCall house. He rang the bell. He only had to wait thirty seconds, for the woman to answer.  
"John, come in. What brings you over?"  
He stepped past her and turned around, to face her, when she had closed the door.  
"You know, right? How long have you known?"  
The nurse was genuinely confused. "About...?"  
Scott chose that exact moment to try to walk past them from the living room to the kitchen, not paying any attention to what was happening.  
"Sheriff, hi." He gave his best friend's father a crooked grin.  
"About what he is." He looked at the younger woman accusingly.  
"So they told you..." The young werewolf said cautiously.  
"Yes, they told me about all of it. Werewolves, the pack and the mate thing. I really didn't need to know that."  
"You really do." Scott told him firmly.  
"What mate thing?" Melissa asked her son.  
"Stiles...has kinda changed." he said hesitantly. "Just a little."  
Melissa McCall ushered both men into the kitchen and made coffee and sat them down to talk, steaming cups in front of all of them.  
"I have known for a year, since the incident at the sheriff station."  
The sheriff sighed. "Sooo, you were bitten, or what."  
"Uh, yes."  
Scott tried to explain all he could and answer the questions, not that he was particularly good at it, but he made an effort to ease the sheriff's nerves as best he could, until his eyes fell on the clock.  
"Oh shit, I gotta go, pack meeting."  
"Are you kidding me?" John Stilinski narrowed his eyes.  
"Ehm, no." He thought for a minute. "Why don't you both come? I mean you know now and there's food."  
"Why not." His mother just shrugged.  
"What?" He stared at the McCall's.  
"You can meet all of them."  
"Werewolves? All of them?"  
"Well, yeah. And Stiles."  
"Come on, John." Melissa actually smiled and tugged at his arm.

As Scott drove up the dirt road to the mansion, they noticed a flurry of movement ahead. At a closer look, they saw that a ball was involved in the running and chasing. Scott was about to park, when Derek tackled Stiles at full speed, which sent the ball he had been holding flying. Stiles hit the ground hard, resulting in all the air being pushed out of his lungs and 200 pounds of alpha landing on his chest. The boy groaned, but started laughing, when Derek lifted his weight off of him and kissed first his neck and then muffled the laughter in kissing his lips.  
The sheriff had jumped out of the car, when his son had hit the ground but was rooted beside the door at his sudden expression of joy and affection. He watched as the wolf got up and pulled his son with him, then holding him at the hips and kissing him softly again.  
"I haven't seen him this happy ever since his mom died." He whispered to Melissa beside him.  
The couple turned, when the wind shifted slightly and they smelled the new arrivals. Stiles smiled widely. His golden eyes were shining in the setting sun. He ran over and hugged his father tightly.  
"I love you, dad."  
"Love you too, son."  
"I'm glad you came."  
With a swift turn he was out of reach again.  
"Come on, get cleaned up, we're starting dinner." He yelled at his pups, who immediately stopped and ran into the house, Scott as well.  
"What was that?" His father asked irritated.  
"What?" Stiles asked confused.  
"They listen to you?"  
He looked at the house after the betas, then back to his father. "Yeah."  
"Hello, Sheriff. Miss McCall." Derek shook both their hands.  
"You did say anytime." Melissa smiled.  
"And I meant it."

The wolves were actually at their best behavior with guests present and didn't growl at each other as much. Melissa talked mostly with the betas and the sheriff finally got to talk to Derek a little. They moved to the living room with their coffees after dinner. Derek was still in the kitchen with John, while Stiles and Melissa were already sitting on the couch, Boyd on a cushion on the floor and Jackson on one of the armchairs. Erica had decided that she needed some air and was about to open the door. The moment she did, John Stilinski jumped backwards beside the alpha, as he wolfed-out in a split second and stormed outside with a raging growl.  
"MOM!" Erica could only scream in panic.  
"Oh, SHIT." He sprang to his feet and ran through the house, before he even fully realized what was happening, but sensing the all around distress. He got to the veranda in time to see something or someone landing about ten yards from the house and rolling out. Stiles saw Peter getting up, now also shifted. Derek was still standing directly below him and he didn't notice the rest of the pack plus parents arriving at the front of the house. He could sense his mates rage and his uncle wasn't far behind the same emotion. When the elder Hale was about to charge he ran and placed himself directly between them. He just stood there staring into Peter's eyes when a cloud passed and moonlight hit his eyes and the big werewolf came to an immediate standstill reverting to his human form, right in front of him.  
"Don't even think about it." Stiles voice was hard and cold. "You are family, but he will rip you to shreds."  
"I..."  
The boy stopped him with a held up hand. "Go inside, all of you." He instructed the pack quietly.  
The moon was still shining in his face and he fixed Peter with his icy gleam. "You, too, Derek." He added softly. He only spoke again, when everybody was back inside, but the two of them.  
"Are you nuts?"  
"That's the common opinion."  
"Oh great, you decided now is a good time to unpack the crazy again. We are getting stronger by the minute and you think he will muster enough self-control to not fillet you, after what you put us through. The first time wasn't enough for you, so you come back for seconds?"  
"I came to apologize."  
"Wow, you are serious."  
"I never meant to hurt you."  
"You're not doing a very good job at that."  
"You think I don't know that? You think I want to be this broken? The fire left us crippled in more ways than you can imagine. You shouldn't be subject to that."  
"But I am and I have been, for a long time now. And I see how far Derek has come. Why would you begrudge him that?"  
"I don't. I really don't. But he hadn't realized what the bonding would mean for you. You are losing part of yourself."  
"None that I will particularly miss. Especially the spazzy ADHD kid. Won't miss him."  
"Your humanity."  
"Isn't in danger and you lack that enough for all of us."  
Peter Hale couldn't help the glare and the growl.  
"I'm not afraid of you, Peter."  
"Why? I could kill you right now."  
"To what end? You want him to forgive you, not kill you. And you like me." Stiles threw him a cheeky grin and walked back to the house. "See ya."

Scott had ushered his mother and Stiles' father back into the house with the other betas, shortly followed by the alpha, because they weren't able to hear Stiles' instructions to the pack.  
"Who is that?" The sheriff asked worriedly and pointed at the door.  
"Uncle Peter." Scott answered him.  
"Who's...?"  
"Mine. Peter Hale." His signature glare firmly in place.  
They had all been listening in on the conversation outside, which left the betas confused and Derek only slightly calmer, when Stiles came back a few minutes later. Isaac and Erica immediately came to nuzzle his neck on each side, until he nudged them gently. He stepped in front of his mate and received a low angry growl, which vibrated through him and had him staring into blood red irises. He placed his hands on the older man's cheeks and put their foreheads together closing his eyes. Derek felt his breath ghosting over his skin, while he moved his mouth to his ear.  
"Calm down, Sourwolf." His vocal chords vibrated barely enough to make a sound, so only the wolf could hear him. "I love you." He hadn't said it in over two weeks and it had hurt.  
Derek's arms came up, the moment he heard the words, to crash the body of his lover into his own and started nuzzling his shoulder and neck, scenting him. He needed Stiles to smell like him again, at least more him than pack. His movements were slow and thorough. The boy automatically tilted his head to the side, to allow him better access, more than used to the treatment.  
"What's he doing?" Sheriff Stilinski asked Scott beside him quietly.  
"The nuzzling? It's a wolf thing, for comfort and scenting."  
"Scenting?"  
Scott only tipped at his nose.  
The alpha took one last deep breath of his mate and let go of him. Calm again and very satisfied with the way his mate had handled his slightly psycho uncle, whom he himself would have killed, with the sheriff present as a witness. Wouldn't that have been fun.  
Now that everything was calm again, they finished their coffee and shortly before nine John and Melissa decided to leave for the evening. Scott also wanted to meet up with Allison for a while, so he went with them. Stiles walked his father out.  
"What was that about?"  
His son crunched up his face and sighed. "The stuff we had to work out, kinda Peter's fault that it came up. Not that he isn't a little bit of a sore spot anyway, so coming here unannounced, not exactly a healthy idea."  
"Okay, but you're good now?"  
"Yeah."  
"One thing, did she scream mom, when Derek ran out?"  
"Uh, yeah." He looked innocently at his father.  
"And you came running..."  
"Yes."  
"Why?"  
"Because Erica yelled for me." Wasn't that obvious?  
"Excuse me...?" Apparently not.  
"They...kinda call me that."  
The sheriff furrowed his brows.  
"I'm pack mom. I take care of them. I'm the alpha mate. They listen to me and they can come to me with their problems. Mom." He concluded flatly.  
"They don't listen to Derek?"  
"Big bad alpha they're scared of. Me they love." He grinned.  
"Okay, I think I had enough for today." He turned to get into the car.  
"I'll be home by midnight."

Stiles stepped back into the house, to see Isaac detaching his face from Derek's neck and he smiled. "See, they love me, too."  
"Of course they do." He grinned when the young wolf nuzzled him as well. "You have five minutes to get out of the house. Go for a long run or something." He informed his pup with a twinkle.  
The beta looked mildly confused for a second, until he understood. "Oh."  
"Yeah."  
In a matter of seconds all four remaining puppies fled the mansion.

"I'm impressed." Derek admitted, when his mate came over to him.  
"I can be subtle."  
The teen kissed the older man and ran upstairs closely followed by the other one. As soon as he stepped over the threshold of their room he started discarding his clothes, to the bare skin. Derek did the same and took a minute to just look at the younger. He came closer, to trail his rough hand along the smooth skin of his chest and stomach and back up, to rest his palm over the heart. Stiles looked from his hand into the pale eyes opposite him.  
"What is it?" The human asked softly.  
"You haven't taken your pills in three days."  
"I didn't need them. Not anymore."  
"You sure?"  
"Pretty sure you can smell that." He smirked. "But we didn't get into a state of undress, to discuss my medical history or future lack thereof." The boy grinned and stepped closer, so their bodies touched.  
"No, we didn't." The wolf had an evil grin on his face and a hungry glint in the red glowing eyes.  
Stiles loved the predatory possessiveness of his mate, when the animal took over their bedroom activities and ravished him. It left them sated and panting heavily lying on their backs. The younger man let out a hoarse laugh. "You missed me."  
"Every second." He let his hand slide up over Stiles' hip onto his stomach, rising and falling with every breath.  
"We should take a shower, before the puppies come back."  
He took the hand on his stomach in his own and with one last deep inhale got up and dragged the alpha with him into their bathroom, where they continued their love making in the shower, before they cleaned themselves up and Stiles got dressed.  
"I love you."  
The teenager looked up from tying his shoe with a loving smile. "You too, honey." The wolf stood close enough for Stiles to grab his hand gently and kiss his knuckles.  
"Is it still okay to have my birthday party here?"  
"Of course, have you told your father?"  
"I'll tell him tomorrow, or now if I still catch him." He pecked the other’s lips. "Bye."

Stiles Stilinski told his father of his birthday plans before he went to school. The sheriff was surprised, but didn't mind much, as the Hale mansion was significantly bigger and he wouldn't have to worry about any cleanup.  
At school, Allison caught him before his first class, Scott in tow behind her. She looked at his face intensely. "Are you alright?"  
Stiles frowned at her. "Yeah, sure." He looked at Scott, clearly confused.  
"Dude, your face." His friend reminded him.  
"It's fine, Allison." The light red streaks still stood out on his pale skin. Her father had obviously told her about his nightly encounter of the teen and the condition he had left in. "Almost gone."  
The next day the claw marks on his face were actually gone and barely anybody had noticed them in the first place, so it was all good.

Stiles had done all the shopping and most of the preparations for his birthday the day before and would have very little to do when he came from school on Friday. He would be skipping lacrosse practice to have enough time. He greatly appreciated the fact, that his father had a late shift that Thursday, which of course he didn't tell him, because that way Derek could stay the night.  
Stiles was dozing off on the alpha's shoulder and was almost unconscious, when his lover stroked his face lightly. "Happy birthday, Stiles." He whispered and brushed his lips against the others.  
"What...?" He opened his eyes slowly and lifted his head to get his bearings.  
The only light source was the dimmed lamp in the corner beside the bed. His eyes adjusted and he looked at his mate, then the clock, which told him it was two minutes past midnight.  
"It's your birthday." Derek gave him one of those rare smiles that were just for him.  
"Thank you." Stiles nudged his nose to his and placed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.  
What followed was the most intense sex they had ever had. When Stiles came he felt something shifting deep within. He groaned loudly and his eyes flew open glowing a violent crimson. His mate's eyes turned the same color and he scraped the tips of his fangs along his collar bone riding his own wave out. The alpha sank to his side, just breathing for a while.  
"If I offered you the bite, would you take it?" He let his elongated canines slide along the sensitive skin of Stiles' side for emphasis, but not braking the skin.  
The younger man had no idea where that had come from. "No." He stretched the word.  
Derek ran his tongue along the path his teeth had taken seconds ago.  
"Hey, no turning me. I'm alpha enough as it is. You really want me exactly as strong as yourself?"  
The dark haired man stopped his movement and sucked his tongue back into his mouth a moment later. "That would be..."  
Stiles grinned, Derek was cute when he was genuinely confused. "See. Come on, get your little werewolf butt into the shower. I have school tomorrow."  
After the shower they lay facing each other on their sides. They looked into each other's eyes in the dark. Stiles could actually see his lover's features now. Derek took his hand into his own.  
"The bond is complete." The older man whispered.  
"I felt it." Stiles breathed.  
The alpha smiled softly. "You're mine now."  
"I was yours before."  
"But now we are officially mated."  
"Is there supposed to be a ceremony or something?"  
"Not really. The completion of the bond is private, obviously. There is a gathering of family and pack most times in honor of the couple like..." He hesitated.  
"Like what?"  
He sighed and looked away. "A wedding reception."  
Stiles stared at him in shock. "Oh my god, you mean we're practically married now?"  
"Well, yeah, the werewolf equivalent anyway."  
"Should I call you my husband?" Stiles mocked. "Wait that sounds strange, even to me."  
"I'm your mate, Stiles." Derek said slightly annoyed. "This..." He gestured between them. "...isn't breakable. And we don't need any human status to know this is forever."  
The teen let out a content sigh and closed his eyes drifting to sleep.  
He woke to something tickling his nose, a light weight on his chest and his right hand was fisted lightly in...fur? His eyes snapped open and he jumped out of his bed tumbling backwards until he hit the wall with a loud bang. A freakin' wolf lay on his bed. Huge freakin' black wolf. An actual animal the size of a calf. Soft black coat of fur, pointy twitchy ears, gigantic paws and RED eyes.  
"Holy SHIT." He exclaimed.  
The wolf just snorted and transformed into a man.  
"Jeez, Derek, warn a guy."  
The alpha smirked.  
"Wait, you can do that?"  
"I can now." He got up and stretched his limbs. "And it's comfortable."  
"You don't say." He sighed. "Come on, put some clothes on, birthday breakfast."  
"I am kinda hungry." The werewolf admitted while pulling his pants up.  
Stiles threw a fresh shirt at him, which he put on. The younger man held out a hand, that Derek took and let himself be lead downstairs into the kitchen, where the sheriff made pancakes.  
"Morning, dad."  
"Happy birthday, son. Derek."  
"Sheriff."  
His father put a full plate in front of him. "Thank you, dad."  
"I assume I'll be seeing more of you now?"  
"Only if that is okay with you. He is eighteen now."  
"Yeah sure, he's happy, what can I say against that."  
"Thank you."  
Stiles shoved his fork loaded with pancake into his face, to shut him up, which he took gratefully. The elder Stilinski shook his head lightly and handed the alpha his own plate with food.  
"So Melissa and I are invited for tonight?"  
"Yes, of course. I told you, you are both coming." Stiles blinked at his father.  
"Don't worry we won't stay too long."  
"Dad."  
"It's okay, you need to celebrate with your friends. I trust there won't be any alcohol."  
"Not from my side and it doesn't really affect us anyway, so it would be pretty much a waste." Derek assured him.  
"Okay then. I gotta get going and I see you tonight."

Derek Hale drove his mate to school. Stiles grabbed his backpack from the backseat and already had his hand on the door, when his lover stopped him.  
"Open the glove box."  
"Wha...okay." He did as he was told and revealed a small flat black box. He took it out and inspected it.  
"Open it."  
The teen did that, too. He pulled at the thick leather band, until it was completely out of the box and looked at the amulet dangling from it. A solid silver triskelion, like the tattoo on Derek's back.  
He smiled. "Thank you." He slipped it over his head and fastened it, so it would hang loosely around his neck. "I love it."  
"Good." The wolf leaned over to kiss him goodbye, but Stiles snuck in some tongue to deepen it into a thank you kiss as well.  
"When do I pick you up?" He asked, when they parted lips.  
"Four. Don't be late." The younger man grinned.  
"I won't."  
He walked towards his locker when the pack descended on him. Erica was the first to round the corner and outright jumped him. He caught her and she wrapped arms and legs around him.  
"Happy birthday, mom." She purred into his ear.  
"Thank you." He kept walking, as she kept clinging to his body and the rest of the pack crowded him with best wishes and handshakes from the boys. Only Isaac didn't let himself be disturbed by Erica and nuzzled the unoccupied side of Stiles' neck, shielded from view by the others.  
"Happy birthday, mom." He sniffed and breathed behind his ear a few times, before he righted himself again.  
"Thank you, Isaac. Come on Erica, puppy pile is tonight."  
She eyed him excited. "Promise?"  
"Yes." Reluctantly she peeled herself off of him and stood beside Boyd.  
Allison and Lydia hugged him and each kissed his cheek. Danny only approached him, when his pack scattered to their individual classes, save Isaac, who had the same course.  
"I wanted to wish you happy birthday." He held his hand out somewhat shy.  
Stiles shook it. "Thank you, Danny. You coming tonight?"  
"Uh...I...am I allowed?"  
"I invited you, if I remember correctly." He eyed the taller boy suspiciously.  
"Yes, but last time..."  
"Was bad timing, nothing else. I expect you to get him there." He instructed his pup, who nodded.  
Stiles Stilinski walked a few paces in front of the couple and many other students threw him looks, because he had started to get noticed about two weeks ago, when his change became clearer. He walked taller and he had an air of calm around him, a presence that demanded respect for some reason.  
"When did he start to have such a reign over you?"  
"What do you mean?" The young werewolf, took his boyfriends hand and looked over at him.  
"He has grown, he is more than he was before, he has presence."  
Isaac just grinned at him.  
"Ask Derek tonight, if you can tell him about us." Stiles said silently as if speaking to himself.  
"And what is that weird dynamic between all of you? Even Jackson, and I know he's not exactly friends with McCall."  
"It's complicated." The blond boy offered.  
Danny didn't want to press the issue, but was none the less confused and wouldn't wait forever for a satisfactory explanation. When he thought about it, he had never felt the need to ask his best friend about the closeness with the others. It hadn't bothered him with Jackson, but he started to fall in love with Isaac and the other teen was unnaturally infatuated with Stiles. He didn't get that at all, because Stiles had a boyfriend and by his own account was completely into him and Isaac was with him. They seated themselves in a row with the wolf in the middle.  
"Can I tell him?" Isaac Lahey leaned over to Stiles a little and spoke very quietly.  
Stiles sighed. "Not my decision, that one's completely Derek."  
With that the younger boy let it go.

The alpha was leaning against the passenger side door waiting for his mate. Stiles exited the school at exactly 4 pm and immediately smiled at the dark haired man. He leaned into him slightly and kissed him gently.  
"Hi."  
"Hey, babe."  
Stiles pushed him away from the door gently. "Come on, no time to waste."  
"Why, you were almost done yesterday."  
"And now I've got to finish."  
And finish he did. He was actually done almost an hour before his guests were supposed to arrive, because Derek had helped. Now Stiles was standing in front of their floor length mirror. Blue jeans and the black cotton shirt his mate loved so much. He exhaled deeply and gave himself one more once over. He blinked and when his eyes opened again, his lover hovered directly behind him.  
"I think it's fine." He whispered into his ear.  
The younger man stared at him through the mirror. "We are married..." He breathed.  
"Bonded, but yeah. Having second thoughts?"  
"I think it has just sunk in." He huffed out a shaky breath.  
The wolf slid his arms around the human's waist and nuzzled his neck.  
"No. No second thoughts, just happy. So incredibly happy."  
He turned in the embrace. The wolf's arms closed around him, to press him close. His head remained low though, as he put his lips to the younger's pulse, to feel his heartbeat. It was steady, slightly faster than his own, a mesmerizing regular thump, that ruled his world, if he was to admit it. Stiles had put his arms around his mate's shoulders and threaded his right hand through the hair at the back of his head in soothing motions. When he spoke, his voice was but a whisper.  
"I was so confused, when I realized I had feelings for you. You of all people, always threatening to rip my throat out, always pushing me into the nearest vertical surface. But then again, we always saved each other's lives. I don't think either of us ever thought twice about the why. And then you kept showing up at night, even when my dad was home, just not to be alone. I always thought you preferred being alone, but you are a wolf, how could you ever stay alone. I got that after a while, just not, why you rather sought out me, instead of your puppies. It felt good to be needed, it still does. You were so unlikely to love me. I was so surprised when you actually asked to kiss me, instead of just taking what you wanted. I only then realized that I wanted you too, that I hadn't thought about anybody else in that way for months. You invaded my life so suddenly and with such force and now I can't live without you ever again. I am physically incapable to be without you."  
He lifted Derek's head from his neck to look into his eyes.  
"I would die." Stiles forced back the forming tears.  
The alpha kissed him softly. "Please don't cry. This is a happy day for us. This is our day, we are mated, it's your birthday and nothing can separate us. Okay?"  
"Yeah." He took a few calming breaths and smiled a little.  
"Your dad and Melissa are coming up the road."  
Stiles took a step back and looked at him expectantly, when he didn't move.  
"I have to change, I'll be right down."

"Stiles, happy birthday." Melissa McCall hugged him.  
"Thank you."  
Stiles heard the girl coming. She hugged him from behind and nuzzled his neck for a moment, before she lay her chin on his shoulder and looked at the two parents. He rubbed the side of his face against hers. "You wanna accompany Melissa inside? We need to talk to my dad for a moment."  
The blond nodded and immediately grabbed the older woman's hand to take her inside. Derek slipped his hand into his mate's and looked at the older man.  
"Gonna run away and get married again." He joked.  
"We kinda already are."  
"Are what...?"  
"Married." His father just stared. "The whole mate thing we told you about, when I turned eighteen, it became permanent. It creates a bond between two mates that can't be broken. Ever. And with werewolves that is like getting married."  
The sheriff scrunched his face up. "What?" Disbelief clear in his voice.  
"Wolves only mate once and that actually is for the rest of their lives." Derek elaborated. "So now that he is eighteen, we are officially mated and that equals to being married."  
"And you didn't think something like that would be worth mentioning beforehand. Is there at least some kind of traditional celebration or something?"  
"There usually is a gathering of family and pack in honor of the couple." The alpha admitted hesitantly. He clasped the younger man's hand desperately and turned into him, burying his face in his short hair. "This can still be that." He whispered.  
Stiles made a decision. "This party is gonna be both for my birthday and our mating reception. Everybody is here anyway. Dad I'm sorry, I didn't realize this would have such an impact, until it did."  
"Okay, I guess congratulations are in order then."  
"Thank you, dad." He nudged his mate gently.  
Derek Hale stood up straight again, to look directly into the eyes of his father in law. "Thank you, Sir."  
"Can you keep future surprises to a minimum. The last few weeks have maxed me out on those for a long while."  
"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry."  
"Son, welcome to the family." They shook hands. "You sure you thought that step through? We Stilinskis are a lot to handle. Especially this one."  
Derek smiled. "I think I can manage. Made it this far."  
"True."  
"Come in, dad. You two are a little early."  
"Who are we still missing?"  
"Jackson and Lydia, Scott and Allison, Isaac and Danny." Derek's eyes snapped to him. "Danny, shit."  
"Why is he coming?"  
"I invited him. Which in retrospect could be a problem. Isaac also wants to tell him."  
"Damn kid. Why?"  
"Don't be ignorant, Honey. He likes him and Danny is also Jackson’s best friend, so it makes sense."  
The werewolf let out a little growl, to which the sheriff threw him a disconcerted look.  
"I don't like it."  
Stiles lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of Derek's hand. "Just accept it."  
Inside Boyd nuzzled Stiles' neck for a whole minute, before he meandered back to the couch, where Erica chatted with Melissa. The three men went into the kitchen.  
"You guys do that a lot." John stated.  
"Do what a lot?" His son peered into the oven, to check the lasagna.  
"The neck thing."  
"The nuzzling, yeah. Wolves are very tactile creatures, they need it. It's a gesture of respect and affection and we scent each other as pack."  
Derek was slicing bread when he suddenly tensed up. He turned, only to have Stiles' hand on his forearm, exacting gentle pressure.  
"I invited him." He said quietly.  
The alpha growled. "Why?"  
"He's family and you two need to get over yourselves."  
Stiles pecked his lips and left for the door and Derek growling low, while the sheriff had no clue what they were talking about.  
"Who are you talking about?" He asked for clarification.  
"Peter."

Stiles opened the door, as the werewolf stepped onto the porch.  
"Happy birthday, Stiles and I see congratulations are in order. Welcome to the family."  
"Thank you." Stiles halted him, when he passed him, with a firm hand on his shoulder. "Behave yourself." The human's eyes flashed red.  
"I see you're adjusting nicely." Peter Hale grinned.  
"I am." The wolf moved on. "He's in the kitchen." Not that the older man wasn't aware of the fact, but the teen, wanted to make sure he went there first, which he did.  
The older wolf tilted his head in a respectful greeting at the alpha. Derek in turn rammed the knife he was holding into the work plate, he had been slicing the bread on.  
"Congratulations." He simply stated.  
"Thank you." The younger man huffed.  
"On what?" John Stilinski asked curious.  
"Uh." Peter eyed the older man unsure. "Does he know?"  
His nephew nodded curtly.  
"His mate. Your son, sheriff. Very well chosen by the way." He smirked at the alpha.  
"I know that." Derek growled.  
"Why would you say something like that?" Always the investigator.  
"He's strong, he keeps the pack in line, takes care of them and he protects them. Best qualities an alpha mate can have."  
"Oh." He was genuinely surprised to hear the older wolf praise his son like that.  
"Causing trouble already?" Stiles reappeared circling the older wolf, attaching himself to his lover, by embracing him from behind and putting his chin on his shoulder. His father raised an eyebrow.  
"What? I'm tactile, too."  
Derek just snorted with a smirk, but turned his head to kiss his mate's temple, anyway. Stiles turned his face into the wolf's neck, nosing along his neckline, breathing in his scent. His mate leaned into the touch a serene little smile gracing his features. The human kissed the spot beneath his ear and turned his head so he could return the look Peter was giving him.  
"Thank you." The older Hale said quietly.  
The teen just smiled, as he exited the kitchen, knowing full well what the wolf was thanking him for. Stiles didn't move from his position stuck to the back of his lover, while his father also meandered out of the room. Peter Hale stood on the porch staring out into the woods and was joined by the sheriff a few minutes later.  
"I'm sorry, I'm still new to the whole wolf stuff. What did you thank him for?"  
Peter glanced at the older man. "For mending Derek and giving him a new family. Without him the pack wouldn't be, what it is now. Stiles keeps everything together, whether he is aware of his importance to everyone or not."  
"I am." The alpha mate supplied from inside the house.  
"Okay, apparently he is."  
"He is listening?" The sheriff asked incredulously.  
"Not a lot of secrecy in a house full of werewolves, who can identify anybody by their heartbeat or scent. Whichever comes into range first."  
"Right."  
"For example, Scott and Allison just turned into the dirt road to the house."  
"That's a mile away."  
"Well, senses refine over time."  
"So you were very young when you got turned, too?"  
"Ah, didn't get to that part yet, did they?"  
"What part?"  
"We are born wolves."  
"Born?"  
"Yeah."  
"You all...?"  
Peter interrupted him, before he could formulate the sentence. "We don't want to be out here, for what comes next. Isaac is coming." The wolf moved towards the door, with the sheriff following him automatically. He had heard how both Derek's and Stiles' breaths had hitched, as the sheriff was about to ask about their family. The older Hale was just as eager to talk about his dead family members as his nephew was. Not at all. He knew Derek had told Stiles some, but only enough for the human to understand them. Anything more hurt too much, still.  
The alpha turned in the embrace of his lover, not to face him, but to bury himself in him, melting into his form. Stiles was the only one he could seek comfort in.  
Scott parked the car and they walked into the house, straight into the living room, to greet his mother and the others, to his surprise even Peter. Allison had actually flinched a little, when she had seen Peter Hale, beside the sheriff no less. At least the wolf had the decency, not to flash one of his creepy evil smiles. His only acknowledgement of their presence was, that he looked in their direction for a second.

Isaac had told Danny to stay with the car for a moment, while he went inside. Stiles passed him on his way out with a short nod.  
"Hey Danny."  
"Hi. What's going on?"  
"Just a minute." Stiles smiled reassuringly.

"Are you sure? You've only been with him a couple of weeks and Jackson never thought it necessary to tell him."  
"I can't keep this from him. And you damn near tore him to shreds for walking in here. I don't want that to happen again. If he knows, he won't do something stupid like that ever again. He'll learn the rules."  
Derek sighed aggravated. "Fine, but he's your responsibility. Don't forget that."  
"Thank you." The boy nuzzled his alpha, only for a second not to irritate him further.

"I have to tell you something." Isaac announced when he got back to his boyfriend.  
"I should go back inside." Stiles said in turning.  
"No, could you stay? Please?" How could he refuse his favorite? He nodded.  
"Is this something bad? Are you breaking up with me and need moral support?"  
"If he was breaking up with you, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Stiles clarified.  
"Okay...What then?" The goalie asked slightly unsettled.  
"I'm a werewolf."  
Even Stiles was surprised by the bluntness, but he figured it was a band-aid thing. Get it over with quickly, before you think better of it.  
His boyfriend just gaped at them. "What!?" He spat out when he got over the initial confusion.  
"Show him." Pack mom encouragement, otherwise this would take forever.  
So the boy wolfed out, which made Danny jump and stumble a few steps back. In that moment Jackson pulled up the Porsche in front of the house. He eyed the display curiously, as he opened the passenger door for Lydia. They stepped towards the others.  
"What's up?"  
Danny stared at his best friend wide eyed. "He is..."  
He flashed his electric blues at him. "So am I. So are half the people here. You gonna come in, or keep standing here. It's gonna get cold soon. And inside is food, Stiles made his famous lasagna."  
Isaac had changed back and watched his boyfriend expectantly.  
"You go on. I'll be in in a few minutes."  
The other teens moved to go inside.  
"Stiles, can you stay for a moment?"  
"Yeah, sure. What is it?"  
"You are not...?"  
"No, I'm no wolf. Jackson is, so is Scott, Erica, Boyd and Isaac and Derek of course."  
"He really did almost kill me..."  
"You came close, yes. But now you know and won't come in unannounced, especially to our room."  
"No."  
"Will you come in, now?"  
"I guess."  
"Good."  
When they stepped into the hall, they heard easy laughter from the living room. To his surprise Peter was still beside his father talking to him animatedly. Danny flinched beside him, when Derek appeared behind him out of nowhere, placing his hands on the younger man's hips and nosing along his neck, before pressing a kiss into his hair. That was the first time Stiles registered the low hum the wolf gave off, a sound of pure content. He felt himself responding to the vibration in the same way and turned into his mate. The other boy walked into the other room awkwardly, without looking back.  
"Hmmmm." Stiles kissed along the older man's neckline. He literally couldn't help himself. The humming engulfed them both, lulling them into a state of suspense. Away from the world.

"I think I should get our happy couple before they get carried away."  
"What do you mean?" The sheriff asked Peter.  
"They are still adjusting and that can be rather intense. It takes a couple of days to complete."  
"Oh. They are doing that now?" The older man asked quietly.  
"Can't really help it. The bond is pulling them together."  
He walked into the hall, gently putting a hand on either shoulder of the younger men, not to startle them. They turned their faces to him with crimson gazes. Their expressions slightly dazed.  
"It's the humming, isn't it?"  
"Yeah." Stiles whispered.  
"Come on, you can do that later, you have guests."  
The pair followed him into the living area, eyes still glowing alpha red. The pack looked up and just stared in disbelief at their alphas. The present humans gaped, except for Lydia who had done enough research with Stiles and lately on her own, to know what was happening.  
"Your newly mated alphas everyone." Peter presented them to the room.  
After the initial surprise, they actually clapped and smiled at the pair.  
"What's with his eyes?" Danny whispered to Isaac, but Peter answered.  
"As alpha mate he acquires some of the abilities of the alpha, which puts him ahead of the betas, even as a human."  
Stiles got a little twitchy with the attention on them, he had to get away. "Who's hungry?" He asked excited, to distract everyone.  
"Me."  
"Me."  
Erica and Isaac rushed past him into the kitchen. Stiles relaxed and followed them.

Derek led their guests into the adjacent dining room with the huge table, where they all took a seat and waited for the food to be brought in.

"Mom, why did that sound like you got married?" Isaac questioned him in the kitchen.  
"Because in werewolf terms, we did."

"What?!" The three betas in the dining room exclaimed loudly, startling the humans that hadn't heard what was said in the kitchen. The alpha just huffed, but his uncle had an all too amused smirk on his face.  
"Didn't tell them, did you?" Peter asked his nephew.  
"When? They just got here."  
"Tell them what?" Melissa questioned.  
"That we are kinda married now."  
"What?!" This time the humans cried out the word, save the sheriff and Lydia.  
"Mating is the werewolf equivalent to getting married." Peter explained. "What are you teaching them history-wise?"  
"Not THAT." Derek grumbled. "They're too young."  
The former alpha snorted. "Tell that to Stiles."  
Derek glared at him, but was distracted by the kiss placed on top of his head and the food being set onto the table. They all laughed at how easy it was for Stiles to calm his mate down. They ate, talked and laughed and after dessert and coffee the sheriff and Melissa bid their farewell, so did Danny a little later. Erica was already piling up blankets and cushions in front of the fireplace, when Isaac came back inside. Boyd was sitting on the floor as the female wolf dumped another blanket beside him and cozied up to him, when Peter decided to leave.  
"Happy birthday again, Stiles. Thank you for inviting me."  
The human glanced at the soon to be nest. "You could stay." He said cautiously.  
"No, I don't want to overextend my welcome."  
"Come on." Stiles looked at him questioningly.  
"It's fine. I have an early morning anyway."  
The teen raised an eyebrow at him. Peter just grinned, took his left hand and sniffed along the sensitive inside of his forearm, before he lifted his gaze back up to the younger man's face.  
"It really suits you. Take good care of them."  
"I will." He smiled. "Bye."  
Derek tugged him into the living room, where the others had already gathered and loosely arranged themselves with pillows and blankets. The alpha lead his mate into the center, where they settled down, Derek spooned around Stiles. As soon as they had stilled, the rest of the pack scurried as close to their alphas as they could, half laying around them, half on them, every werewolf at least touching one of them. The result was a heap of limbs tangled together and a few content sighs. Isaac was at Stiles' front pressing his face into the older boys chest, Erica had a pillow under her head in the bend of her alphas knees with Boyd wrapped around her, Scott lay on his back beside Derek with Allison pressed to his side and Jackson had laid Lydia and himself with their heads towards Stiles' and Derek's and a hand curled around Stiles' right wrist.  
When he woke, he had shifted back into Derek, laying half on his chest with one of his legs over his hip. He put his hand on his mate's thigh and gently stroked it up and down. Isaac, still nuzzled into his side, stirred with the change in pace of his heartbeat. He rubbed his face in the older one's shirt, before looking up.  
"Can you make pancakes?" He asked silently.  
Stiles ruffled the blond curls. "Go start the dough."  
The boy got up and padded into the kitchen without making any noise, gotta love that werewolf grace that let them move without touching the ground, it seemed. Stiles turned into his mate. He studied the relaxed face in front of him for a minute, the long lashes hiding those beautiful eyes, those amazing cheekbones. He loved that face. He wiggled upwards a little to kiss those soft lips for a few seconds. Derek returned the light pressure and released him reluctantly, when he moved away. The human made a quick stop at the bathroom then joined his pup in the kitchen, where he had already started measuring the ingredients. When they were done setting the table and making the pancakes and coffee and whatever each needed, Stiles went back into the living room and deliberately banged a wooden spoon along the inside of a large pot.  
"Breakfast!" He yelled over his own noise making.  
The wolves had been awake anyway, but far too comfortable to move and curled up with their significant others, except Derek, who was just lazy in the midst of his pack. None the less, a second later they were all standing to attention, covering their ears, giving him the stink eye.  
"That's my puppies." He smiled broadly.  
He walked to the alpha still sitting on the floor slightly shaking his head. He leaned down, while Derek lifted his head to meet his lips in a short kiss.  
"Is it possible to be a little more gentle waking us up?"  
"Oh please, if I'd ask politely you'd all just growl and turn around. Come on, we made breakfast."  
Derek grabbed a handful of his shirt and dragged him back down for another longer kiss, the rest of the pack moved eyes rolling.  
"When does the honeymoon phase wear off?" Jackson asked annoyed.  
"Could take a while, if you ask me." Erica supplied.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next week Stiles and Derek fully adjusted to their bond. One of the things the teen loved the most was the hum, when they were near each other and content. It lulled them into sleep after sex, when the movie on pack night wasn't interesting enough to keep their minds occupied or when they were just lazy on the couch on Sunday afternoons with no one there to disturb them. They marveled in their new found closeness whenever the opportunity presented itself without regard to the pack. They got a raised eyebrow or a strategically placed moan sent their way on a regular basis, to let them know that their behavior was borderline indecent, but as long as they didn't have guests, the couple pretty much didn't care.  
Derek didn't go out of town much, only when it was necessary that he as alpha represented the pack. On most other occasions he simply sent Peter, who had far more experience in pack dealings and as a Hale was recognized and accepted. But two weeks after the mating Derek had to go to New York for an important gathering, which he couldn't delegate.  
"We'll be fine for a week, honey." Stiles smiled at him and kissed him one last time. All the nuzzles had already been administered, so there was no doubt about who he belonged to.

The alpha had left for the airport in the morning and after school Stiles took Isaac to do the shopping for the week. He had talked to his father and decided to stay at the mansion for the time Derek was out of town. His dad would be working nights anyway, so he wouldn't be alone and could take care of his puppies.  
They were packed with grocery bags, the beta a few feet ahead. Stiles just rounded the corner of the building to where he had parked the jeep when he heard the younger teen whine shortly in surprise and round him in a swift motion to get behind him. The sheriff's son looked up startled and glanced behind himself into the scared face of his pup, before he turned his head again. Understanding flashed across his features and was immediately replaced by a hard mask, when his gaze fell on Chris Argent, who had halted right in front of him.  
"Great, my day was going so well..." He stated sarcastically.  
"Nice to see you too, Stiles."  
"Yeah." The younger man huffed.  
"Did you come down from your power trip?" The hunter raised an eyebrow at him.  
"My...? Wow." He fished for his keys in his pockets and gave them to the young wolf and sent him to load the groceries with a nod. "My power trip, funny description. But no, I'm not coming down from anything, I'm just getting started."  
"Don't get in the way."  
"Don't you dare touch any of them, they don't do anything wrong. And always bear in mind, creativity isn't limited to hunters. Bye."  
Stiles just left the baffled man standing, put the bags in the back of the car and drove away. Chris stood there for a whole minute debating whether he had ever met that kid before, aside from the incident in the woods, which apparently hadn't even left as much as a scar.  
Isaac gave Stiles a worried side glance.  
"Everything is fine."

But he had his own words betray him a few days later. He missed Derek and always wore his shirts to bed, because they smelled of him. He had gone to bed early on Thursday, lacrosse practice had been brutal and he couldn't shake the exhaustion.  
"NOOO!"  
It was shortly after ten and the whole mansion was awake in an instant, when the scream echoed through the building and the surrounding woods.  
"What the hell..."  
Peter had been patrolling the area, more out of boredom than anything else and had physically jumped at the painful noise. He was shocked when he processed whose voice had made the sound.  
'Call, NOW!!!'  
He put the phone back in his pocket and ran the short distance to the Hale mansion. He stormed up the stairs, crashing into the room a second after the other betas. Stiles sat against the headboard heaving shallow breaths. Isaac tried to touch him, but the older teen flinched away from the hand. Erica and Boyd stood on the other side looking helpless and Jackson seemed even more out of place in the master bedroom inhabited by the alphas. Isaac turned to Peter. The boy looked scared.  
"What happened?"  
"I think it was a nightmare."  
"That sounded like someone slaughtered him."

Derek glanced at his barely vibrating phone. He saw the two word message on the display and who it was from. Peter would never interrupt a meeting if it wasn't important. He excused himself, to step outside. It was past one in the morning, but hell, they were nocturnal anyway, not that they didn't have meetings all day long. It rang only once before his uncle answered.  
"What is it? You know I'm still in meetings, probably until m..." He stopped himself in his rant, when he noticed the scuffle and heavy breathing in the background. "What is going on? Is that Stiles?"  
"I'm not sure. Some kind of nightmare, I think. But he's not breathing properly."  
"He's having a panic attack. Go to him, make him look at you and hold the phone to his ear."  
Peter slowly approached the bed. Isaac stepped away and let him sit on the edge. He curled one hand around the younger man's chin and tilted it upwards, so he faced him. Except Stiles' gaze was completely empty. The oldest wolf held the phone near the others ear.  
"Stiles, you have to breathe." Derek implored him.  
Stiles' eyes flickered in recognition of his mate's voice, but he stared into the ice blues of Peter.  
"Calm down." Peter Hale said softly. He took Stiles' left hand and put the phone in it.  
"Stiles." As he held the phone it registered that the voice came from there and wasn't in the room.  
The teen took a shaky breath. "Derek..."  
"Yes. What happened, hon?"  
"He killed you." He wrenched the words out with a sob.  
"No love, I'm fine, I'll be back on Sunday." He opened his eyes, he didn't realize he had closed and stared at a deep dent in the concrete wall of the stair case he had stepped into. He clenched and unclenched his fist a few times and looked over the small pile of debris on the floor. He heard another sob.  
"Everything is fine, Stiles. I'm fine, I'll be done here soon, then I'm coming home, okay."  
Another shaky breath, but calmer. "Okay. I love you."  
"Love you, too. Can you hand the phone back to Peter?"  
"Yeah, bye."  
His uncle took the phone back and went into the hall.  
"Did he have something like that before?"  
"Nightmares yes, but not like this, not resulting in a full blown panic attack and not at all in the last few months." The alpha dug some rock out of his knuckles, so he could heal properly. He hadn't even felt the impact.  
"Are you digging something out of your skin?" Peter asked suspiciously.  
"I hit a wall." He replied drily. "Can you do me a favor and stay the night?"  
The older man didn't hesitate. "Sure. I was bored anyway, might as well babysit the puppies."  
"Why were you there anyway?"  
"I wasn't, I was at least a mile away on the edge of the property, it sounded like someone was torturing him."  
"Damnit."  
"Don't hit the wall again. I'll stay as long as they need me to."  
"Thank you. I won't be able to get out of this earlier. My flight is gonna be at Sacramento International at 9 am on Sunday."  
"Okay. Everything going ok?"  
"Yeah, it's fine. Just a lot of opinions about anything."  
"So, the usual. Why didn't you take him with you?"  
"He has finals soon and school, so no way I'm taking him to New York for a week, where I'm in meetings all day."  
"I'm sure others have brought their mates."  
"Yes. Werewolves, for the most part, but still."  
"Oh come on, you think they wouldn't accept him?"  
"I'm not sure. Anyway, I gotta get back. Kick the puppies out of my room, Stiles needs to sleep. Don't worry about Isaac, him you won't get out. You good?"  
"Yeah, take care."  
Derek groaned and got back in the conference room. He just hoped that the presence of his favorite beta would give his mate enough calm to rest. And he did. With Isaac snuggled up to him Stiles found some sleep again.

"Get up. We gotta go."  
Stiles' head jerked up and he tried to focus on the numbers on the alarm clock beside the bed. 07:00.  
"It's fucking Sunday, Peter. Get out." He groaned.  
As soon as he had said that, he was missing his cover.  
"What the hell!" He yelled at the wolf.  
"Don't wake the whole house. Get up, get dressed. Now."  
To his surprise the teenager was too sleep deprived to argue more, slipped into some pants, t-shirt and hoodie and trailed behind the wolf. He found a comfortable position in the passenger seat and was promptly handed a cup of steaming hot coffee. He breathed the rich aroma for a few seconds.  
"You're my favorite uncle." He mumbled.  
Peter Hale snorted affectionately. "As far as I know, I'm your only uncle."  
"Details." He waved his hand in front of himself absentmindedly.  
Stiles Stilinski hadn't had any nightmares since the night to Friday, but that was mostly, because he hadn't slept, unless his body had demanded it for sheer exhaustion. And even then only a few hours at a time. So his tired brain didn't get to questioning where they were going and fell asleep in spite of the caffeine infusion. The low vibrations of the engine lulled him to sleep. He jerked awake, when a hand dropped gently on his shoulder.  
"What?" His arms flailed a little.  
"We're here." The older man said.  
"Where?" He could only make out, that they were in a parking garage. A big one.  
"Sacramento."  
"Why?" He frowned deeply.  
"Come on."  
Peter just got out of the car and the teen found himself following. He soon saw all the signs leading to gates and airplane symbols on them.  
"What time is it?"  
"Ten to nine."  
They followed a staircase into the airport. Stiles scanned the arrivals for the plane from New York and found it at gate 10.  
"The plane has already landed." He whispered disbelievingly. He took a deep breath and started running.  
"Wait." The werewolf tried to stop him, but he was gone, for him to follow this time.

Derek Hale was completely worn out. He picked up his travel bag and continued to the arrival area. All his senses were tuned down. Airports were way too messy for hypersensitive ears and noses, so he was surprised to put it mildly, when his mate barreled around a corner and jumped at him from three meters away. The alpha was just fast enough to drop his luggage and catch Stiles who wrapped arms and legs around him tightly. The wolf's arms wound around the younger man's back just as tightly. His eyes were squeezed shut and he desperately breathed in the scent he had missed all week. He turned his face into Stiles' neck, as his mate did the same to him. They stood like that for a solid five minutes, until Peter reached them. He lifted his head when he smelled his uncle and smiled faintly. Stiles finally also detached his face from his neck to look at him.  
"Hi."  
"Hi babe."  
Derek barely got his greeting out before his lover crashed their lips together in a passionate kiss. A lot of tongue and teeth and grabby hands in the wolf's hair and under the hem of Stiles' shirt on his silken skin.  
"Don't get carried away, we're in public. People are staring." Peter said quietly.  
The human nudged Derek's nose with his and kissed his forehead. "Let them stare." He continued trailing butterfly kisses down the side of his lover's face and neck, until he lay his head back on the older man's shoulder.  
"I missed you."  
"Missed you, too."  
"Ready to go?" Peter butted in.  
"Yeah." Stiles answered but nuzzled back into Derek's neck.  
"You gonna let go?" The older wolf inquired.  
"No." If it was even possible he tightened his grip.  
Derek sighed a little. "It's fine. Can you take my bag."  
"Sure."  
Stiles had buried his face at his neck and he felt a wet streak run over his skin under his shirt. The alpha supported his mate with one arm around his waist and ran the other hand soothingly along his back, while they walked towards the parking garage. Many people threw them looks, some disgusted, some with shy smiles, some even concerned at the way the younger male was clutching to the other.  
"You have to let go now, Stiles." Derek whispered, when they reached the narrow door to the cars.  
Reluctantly the teen let his legs slide down his mate's hips to stand and his arms to his sides. As if rejected he looked down at his feet. Derek Hale threw his uncle a questioning look, which he answered with a shrug. He lifted his mate's chin with one finger and forced him to look into his eyes. "Smile for me." His own lips curled up in a small smile.  
The result were Stiles' eyes tearing up again, without letting the tears fall. The werewolf kissed his forehead and led him to his car by the hand. He put his mate into the passenger seat, closed the door and turned to the older man. Peter had already thrown his bag into the trunk.  
"What's wrong with him?"  
"He has barely slept since Thursday. You should maybe talk to him about that."  
He gave his uncle a stern look. "I intend to."  
"Just saying. He scared the hell out of me and the others and I wasn't actually in the house."  
He sighed. "Where are you headed?"  
"San Francisco, I'll be back tonight."  
"See you then."  
The former alpha returned to his own car, while Derek slid into his camaro. He turned his head to gaze at his young mate.  
"Stiles." He breathed his name. The human had slumped against the door, his eyes closed. Once again he was lulled into unconsciousness by the engine. Derek drove at the speed limit all the way back to Beacon Hills, until he turned into the dirt road to his house.  
"We're home."  
The younger man jerked upright with a sharp intake of breath.  
"What happened, Stiles?"  
He sighed. "It was just a dream."  
"Are you sticking with that?"  
"Yes." He got out of the car and walked into the house.  
Derek followed him, after he got his bag from the back. Stiles had flopped onto the couch. The alpha moved past the living room upstairs, where he unpacked. He was about to change his clothes and had already taken off his shirt, when his mate padded into their room. He hugged him from behind and lay his cheek on his shoulder blade.  
"It hurt so much." He splayed his hands over Derek's stomach, feeling the flutter of his nervous exhale.  
"I'm sorry." He turned to grab his face and kiss him. "Just come with me next time." He kept kissing the younger man, marking him with deep bruises that wouldn't heal for a while, even with accelerated healing. The alpha ravaged his mate to a point that they both fell asleep exhausted, right where they were, sated and naked.  
Derek woke up in the late afternoon, took a shower and went downstairs where he had heard Isaac rummaging around the kitchen. He yawned when he entered the room.  
"Hey." He greeted his beta.  
"Welcome home." The boy answered accompanied by the inevitable nuzzle.  
"Thank you. What are you doing?"  
"Trying to start dinner. I thought Stiles would be cooking."  
"No. He's sleeping. And he stays that way."  
"Okay. Will you help me?"  
"Yeah, sure. What are we making?"  
"Curry."  
They worked in comfortable silence for a while.  
"Everything good between you and Danny?"  
"Yeah, it's fine."  
"Isaac?" Derek didn't like the way the young wolf had answered him.  
"It's nothing really." He smiled shyly.  
"Only if you promise to talk to Stiles about whatever it is that is bothering you, tomorrow."  
"I will."  
"Good." He knew he wasn't the right person to talk to about feelings and such, he was barely capable of handling his own emotional problems and his mate had the mothering touch to handle the puppies problems, as soon as he had a good night's rest to get over his own. Sometimes he wondered how Stiles did it, shouldering all their combined troubles, but he did somehow and kept sane. Relatively sane.  
Derek Hale growled lowly at the pups, when they entered the house noisily for dinner, to shut them up. All conversations were held in quiet voices from that point on, until they went to bed or home later in the evening.  
Peter had come back around eleven and set with his nephew on the porch, after he had gotten himself a beer. They just stared into the dark woods listening to the animal life around them before the older man spoke.  
"How was New York?"  
"Exhausting. Who knew being alpha could be this complicated."  
"I remember your father always complaining about those meetings. He called them dreadful."  
"I can relate."  
"Why are you reluctant to take Stiles next time. He's your mate. You said there were other human mates."  
"Yes, two women." He heard the human in question in the kitchen putting some leftover food in a bowl and pad his way outside.  
"Is it because he's male?"  
"NO. I'm not ashamed of him."  
Stiles sat himself onto Derek's lap sideways and started eating the cold curry. The dark haired man started stroking circles on the small of his back.  
"If that's not the problem, then what?"  
"He's different." The human just kept munching his dinner.  
"How?"  
"Compared to him, they were weak. They had only minimal attributes from their mates, no advanced healing and no flashy eyes."  
"I haven't met that many human mates, but Stiles is exactly like Elisabeth."  
Now he did look up from his meal. "Who's Elisabeth?"  
"My sister. She was born a human, but her mate was the alpha of another pack and she had taken all the same abilities from her mate as you have."  
"But your parents were both wolves." Stiles inquired.  
"Yes. But she was an ordinary human, like you were. And after her mating she was the same as you, all flashing red eyes, faster healing, heightened senses and the authority to match it."  
"Those women didn't, they were small, dependent on their mates."  
"Guess Hales are special."  
"Looks like." He nuzzled and kissed Stiles' jaw.  
"No female alphas?"  
"Not with human mates. Jessica was there, she has twins now, a boy and a girl. Really cute, Paul had come with them."  
"Can I come next time? I want to meet other mates."  
"When your finals are over."  
"Okay." Stiles finished his food and got up off Derek's lap. "Are you coming to bed?"  
"Soon." He lifted his face to meet Stiles' lips for a quick kiss.  
When the human was gone Peter shook his head. "I don't get it."  
He sized his uncle up for a moment. "What's to get?"  
"He's..." He waved one hand in the air. "...him."  
Derek just snorted to suppress a laugh. "Great observation. I'll leave you to your thoughts about why Stiles and I work. Goodnight."

Stiles hadn't looked in a mirror before he went to school and was surprised when he lifted his shirt after morning practice to find a lot of sizable bruises strewn across his upper body.  
"Oops." He let the fabric slide back down.  
"I guess Derek was happy to see you."  
He looked up at his best friend. "And a little too eager to mark his territory and make it last." He waited a few minutes until most of the other players were done in the showers, then undressed and stood under the hot water himself. He felt relaxed, when he padded to his locker, towel around his hips and rubbing his hair with a smaller one. Only half the team remained, some of which shot him weird looks, he ignored. He had become quite good a player and had been first line all year. Derek had taught him to defend himself, which had come in handy in lacrosse as well. Coach unfortunately chose the moment before he had time to put his shirt on to look into the locker room and caught a glimpse of the left side of his torso. Particularly the marks above his heart, underneath his collar bone and at the side of his rib cage.  
"Stilinski."  
Stiles looked up at the man questioningly. "Yes, coach?"  
"Come here for a minute."  
The teen stepped into the small office and left the door open. "Something wrong?"  
"Who did this to you?" He gestured to his chest, now covered by his shirt.  
"Oh. Overzealous boyfriend?" He looked at coach innocently, while hearing chuckles from Isaac and Jackson in the other room.  
"Are you shitting me?"  
"Most definitely not."  
"I have to report this." For once his coach sounded serious.  
"Hickeys? You want to call my father because I have hickeys?"  
"Those..." The older man looked dumbfounded.  
"Are hickeys. He likes to mark his territory." He repeated the statement he had given Scott before, knowing full well, that it would fluster his coach and heard the booming laughter of his three pups, the second he said it. He grinned at the coach and left him stunned. He took his backpack and shooed his little wolves out in front of him, still laughing.  
"Oh, shut up. I'll tell Derek, how about that?" The betas stopped immediately. "Thought so. But you should have seen his face." Now he was laughing and the other three joined him again.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later Stiles sat in the locker room after practice with no hurry finishing getting dressed. He sat on the bench without his shirt on leant against the wall, with his eyes closed.   
"Hello fag."  
Stiles had heard them coming. Five boys. He didn't care. What could they possibly do? And they probably knew, that their school had a zero tolerance for this kind of assault.  
"Why me?" He was curious. There were enough out and about kids roaming the halls. He was rather relieved that they didn't pick someone who couldn't defend themselves.  
"No reason."  
"Wow, that's lame. Next time, choose somebody whose friends aren't just one whisper away and standing right behind you by now."  
Stiles Stilinski stood and put his long-sleeved shirt on. His head reappeared just in time to see three of them flinch when they turned their heads to see Jackson and Isaac behind them.  
"You really should rethink your strategy, apart from the fact that you get suspended for this kind of thing." He stepped past them. "Boo!" The guy next to him jumped. "Your attitude sucks. You should find a hobby."  
In the hall he spoke again. "Thanks guys. That could have gotten ugly." For the others, he didn't have to add. Both boys nuzzled his neck for a second.  
"Say Isaac, what's up with you and Danny?"  
The younger boy looked at him startled. "Did Derek tell you to talk to me?"  
"No, I just haven't seen the two of you together lately."  
"He said he needed some time."  
"Jackson?" He didn't have to formulate the implied question.  
"Don't look at me. He isn't any different to me than before."  
"Is there a difference between your best friend being a werewolf and dating one?"  
Jackson rolled his eyes. "What are you asking us for? You're the one who's BEEN doing that."  
"Oh, right. But I knew from the get go my boyfriend could potentially rip me to shreds, if he ever lost control and my best friend was the one who dragged me into this werewolf mess in the first place."  
"True." Both werewolves admitted.  
"Should I talk to him?"  
"Would you?"  
Stiles shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? If he has questions I should be able to answer them."  
"Thank you."

Stiles caught Danny the next day after school and pulled him a little to the side from the crowds of students leaving for home.  
"What's up, Danny?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"With Isaac. What do you need time for?"  
The taller boy sighed heavily. "I don't know if I can do this."  
"He's still the same person. You just learned something about him. Something that is very personal and he wouldn't have shared with you, if he didn't want for you to stay around."  
"How can you be so calm about this?"  
"Been doing it for a while. I know it's scary, but he's in control, he can handle his wolf."  
"Oh god. How is this my life?"  
Stiles literally burst out laughing. "Imagine yourself in my shoes, then you can say that." He shook his head in amusement, when he caught a glimpse of someone approaching them. Fast. In the last second he stepped out of the way of the swinging arm directed at his head.  
"What the hell?" Stiles looked up and recognized one of the little douches from the day before, when a fist connected with his face and he tumbled into Danny, who steadied him.  
"That fucking hurt." He growled out. Not as impressive as one of Derek's real ones, but still very angry. He stood up straight. "Danny you should step aside."  
"Aww, protecting your little boyfriend?"  
"No, but I thought you wanted me?" He touched his cheek and saw blood on his fingers.  
By now many of the other students had noticed the commotion and drew closer to see.  
"We'll take him, too." The other three little moron's appeared behind the goalie.  
"Your funeral."  
The apparent leader took that as an invitation to attack him again. Stiles grabbed the swinging arm and threw him over his shoulder in a turn, where the body smashed into the ground. Grass and dirt, but still a hard landing, which left the boy dizzy and groaning in pain.  
"Don't open your eyes." It felt like the voice was in his head, but Stiles knew it was just far away. He hadn't realized he had closed his eyes while throwing the other boy. He sensed the slight burning behind his closed lids. Red burning. He had to calm down. He heard the pack making their way to him. Stiles stood there on the grass, his eyes squeezed shut, breathing heavily. He also heard teachers coming and the one thing that would block out anything else. A Heartbeat. The steady thump drowned everything else out and he opened his eyes. Calm, amber eyes looking into green-grey.  
"What happened here?" One of the teachers asked exasperated.  
"They attacked us." Danny provided, pointing the culprits out. "They hurt Stiles."  
Derek had his chin in his hand to turn his head a little, to have a better look at the wound, when the teacher stepped to them.  
"Who are you?"  
The alpha didn't look away from the bloody cheek. "Boyfriend."  
"Is that why they attacked you?"  
"Yes, they already tried yesterday, but my friends were there."  
"What?" His mate actually did growl.  
"Nothing happened."  
Erica appeared directly beside him and eyed the boy on the ground angry.  
"Erica stop it." He could sense her rage. "Not worth it."  
The school nurse assessed the groaning mass on the ground. "Bring him to the infirmary." She ordered two students with a gurney. "You are coming, too." She informed Stiles and he went with her, followed by the whole pack, including his mate and the teacher who questioned him.  
Of course they called his father, who was less than thrilled to hear his son was injured. After the nurse had disinfected and bandaged his face, he waited in the hall in front of the principle's office. Derek had kissed him softly and made himself scarce. His puppies had huddled around him, Erica practically sitting in his lap, face buried in his hair, Isaac leaned in close on the other side, the other three standing protectively around them. That's how his father found them and sighed at the sight.  
"What happened?"  
He didn't get an answer, because the principle chose that moment to open the door to his office and ask the sheriff and his son in.  
"What the hell happened here?" The cop inquired.  
"It seems your son has gotten into a fight."  
"That's rich. I was attacked. Unprovoked I might add."  
"And yet here you are and the other boy is in the infirmary, being treated for a concussion and a broken arm."  
"I defended myself. It is hardly my fault that little prick shouldn't go looking for fights he can't handle."  
"Stiles calm down." His father implored. At that moment he got the part where Peter had said, his son would change into something closer to Derek. "Why did this kid attack you? Who is he?"  
"I have no idea who he is and there were five of them."  
"Five? Why?"  
"Apparently he was talking to another boy who is openly gay."  
"They did this because he's gay?" The sheriff was dumbfounded.  
"Labels, dad."  
"For arguments sake. Am I understanding this right? Five boys attacked my son and his friend and you are coming after him, because he knows how to defend himself?"  
"He seriously injured the other boy."  
"What? I should have just taken it, because I'm a minority and have less rights?" Stiles snapped.  
"Let's see how the school board thinks about you coming after a gay kid that has been attacked and injured by five others."  
"And threatened, yesterday."  
"They came after you before?" The principle asked.  
"Yesterday, in the locker room, after practice."  
"But they didn't attack you then?"  
"Isaac and Jackson showed up."  
"They are your friends?"  
"Yes." He looked out the window at them. "The fluffy blond and the model guy."  
"Who is this kid?" His father tried to get them back on track.  
"Haven't seen him before."  
"He is a transfer student. He was expelled from his last school." The principle supplied from a file.  
"For what?"  
The principle read a few lines and sighed. "For bullying a gay student."  
The sheriff raised his eyebrows. "Oh, we are DONE here. And those students get suspended."  
"Yes, Sir."

"What did you get yourself into?" The sheriff asked, when they left the building, the pack trailing behind them.  
"I didn't do anything." Stiles exclaimed.  
"You broke his arm."  
"I did not. He did."  
His father didn't get another retort in, as Stiles ran forward from his side into his lover's arms. Derek caught him and hugged him tight.  
He breathed into the older man's neck. "This is ridiculous."  
"Don't worry about it. Right, John?"  
The sheriff fixed him with a hard stare. "Right. You gonna come over for dinner?"  
"Yes, thank you." He caught Isaac’s puppy eyes. "You can make dinner yourself for once."  
The young wolf's gaze dropped.  
"It's okay. Come on." Erica tugged at his arm.  
"Take the jeep." Stiles threw them the key.  
"Tomorrow is training, don't forget that." The alpha called after the retreating betas.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you for dinner." Derek said when they finished eating.  
"You're welcome. So what does training entail for werewolves?"  
"Fighting, speed, endurance."  
"I probably don't want to know details." The sheriff guessed.  
"It's rough, but it has to be, to prepare them for whatever might come our way."  
"Okay, now I'm sure I don't want details."  
Later Stiles and his dad sat in front of the TV, Sheriff Stilinski in his comfortable armchair and his son sprawled on the couch. Derek had gone upstairs to take a shower and came back down after. The teen smiled when he heard the soft clicking of the claws on the wooden floor. He scooted back further into the couch, just in time for the wolf to lie in front of him, pressed into his front. His mate hugged the big head to his chest and kissed the snout resting on his bicep.  
"Holy shit." His father exclaimed.  
He had seen the shadow in his peripheral vision, but only really looked when it had settled with his son. Now he stared at the huge wolf cuddled by Stiles.  
Stiles kept smiling not looking directly at his father. "He says it's comfortable."  
"Okay." The older man swallowed.  
"And he's beautiful." Derek emitted a low growl at his words.  
"He seems to disagree."  
"He just doesn't like me commenting on his good looks." The wolf growled again. "I love you, too." Stiles kissed the top of his head and rubbed his face in the thick soft fur, earning him a purring noise.  
His father shook his head lightly and returned his gaze back to the TV.  
"How did you even find each other?"  
Stiles sighed. "I don't know. I know I should have, with all the wolfy stuff, but I couldn't stay away. Something pulled me towards him." Absent-mindedly he played with Derek's fluffy ears. "He came over more and more and stayed the nights and then...I don't know, it just happened. One minute we were talking and the next he asked me, if he could kiss me. We kissed and that was that." The alpha licked his face a few times and settled back down.  
"You are so different..." The sheriff mused.  
"We complete each other, dad. Everything I ever missed, I found in him. I can't explain it, but without him, I don't know if I could go on."  
"Don't say things like that." John told him in a warning tone.  
"I'm sorry, dad. We are bonded for life. I'm aware that you can't really fathom the concept and I can't describe the feeling, it's almost tangible. When he's not around me, I can still feel him."  
His father tried to process the information, but it was difficult.  
"You're still so young, Stiles. You plan on going away for college. What about that?"  
The teen felt the body in his arms tense. "We haven't talked about that yet. I'm going to San Francisco next weekend, to take a look around Berkeley and Stanford with Lydia. It's only a three hour drive, if I get in. That's doable. You know I always wanted to go to Stanford, like mom did."  
"I know, son."  
Derek had lifted his head and stared at him with blood red eyes and a low growl.  
"I was gonna tell you tomorrow." He whispered.  
Still growling Stiles pulled the wolf's head back against his chest after kissing him between the eyes.  
"Don't do that to him. Don't have secrets." His father implored.  
"I'm not. Lydia confirmed the next weekend just yesterday. Her aunt has an apartment in Frisco we can use, which is free then."  
"Just the two of you?"  
"Yes, the others mostly look at local colleges."  
"And you don't?"  
"I've sent in some applications. But you would rip me a new one, if I didn't consider other colleges, because of my relationship. And San Francisco isn't that far. I'd still be here on weekends. I won't stop being mate and pack mom because I might study 170 miles away. I won't give up my life. For anything." He pulled the wolf even closer.  
Derek Hale in his wolf form got up from the couch and went upstairs.  
"Is he okay?"  
"We're fine dad. Goodnight."

When he opened his bedroom door, his gaze fell on his mate in all his nude glory standing in the middle of the room. Stiles appreciated the view for a few seconds, before he stepped into the older man encircling his waist and kissing his neck. The fingers of his right hand traced up the alphas spine and placed his palm above the tattoo between his shoulder blades. He looked up the side of Derek's face.  
"I love you."  
He sighed. "I knew you would leave for college, but I never thought about what it would mean for us."  
"I'll still be here as much as possible and I haven't gotten in anywhere yet anyway."  
"But you want to go to Stanford."  
"I do." He kissed the corner of his mate's mouth.  
"We'll make it work."  
"Don't just say that, Derek. I need you to be able to handle me being away. I need you to be okay, otherwise I won't leave."  
"Stiles, you have to do, what is best for you. Just this once, think about yourself first, not me, not the pack, not your dad, just you. We will manage." He shifted back into his wolf form and jumped onto the bed. The teen sighed and shook his head. He stripped down to his boxers and crawled under the blanket beside the wolf.  
"This discussion isn't over." Derek didn't look at him and was a full foot away. "Come here."  
Reluctantly the big animal moved closer until his head laid on Stiles' chest and he was pressed into his side. The human lay his arms around him and buried his hands in the black fur. He woke to his mate spooning him, his face against his neck and teeth scraping along his skin. His whole body shuddered at the sensation.  
"Morning, honey." He turned around to face the dark haired man.  
The alpha didn't let him get another word out, instead he captured his lips in a passionate kiss, that lasted several minutes, until they both had to come up for air. Stiles put his hands on either side of his face and pecked his lips a few times before he smiled brightly.  
"I love you."  
"I love you, too." The werewolf replied and rolled him onto his back, settling between his legs.  
"Boys, breakfast." The sheriff yelled from the kitchen.  
Derek sunk onto the younger man with a groan.  
"We'll be right down." Stiles shouted back after covering his mate's ears with his hands.

"Good morning, you two." John greeted them enthusiastically.  
"Morning, dad."  
The alpha just huffed and scowled.  
"You okay, Derek?"  
His sort of son in law growled at him.  
"Hey, no growling at my dad, Sourwolf. Use your words."  
He snarled at his mate, fangs out, eyes red.  
"Fine, be grumpy. But it still stands, don't growl at my dad and don't torture the pups too much."  
He placed a mug of coffee in his lover's hands and toasted some pop tarts for himself, beside the coffee. His father watched their interaction over the rim of his own mug in amazement. He guessed every other person would cower before the alpha, but not his son, who reprimanded the werewolf without thinking about it twice. When they finished their breakfast Stiles kissed the alpha's forehead. "I'll be right out." He smiled sweetly, as the older man left.  
"Everything alright?"  
"He just gets grumpy sometimes when he hasn't slept. Nothing to worry about."  
"You know him pretty well."  
"I ought to. I've been dating him for over nine months and known him for eighteen."  
"He has quite the temper, don't think I haven't noticed before."  
His son smiled. "He's getting better with that, but I don't mind."  
"You have no problem with him getting in your face like that?"  
"No. He's not particularly good with words. So I'd rather, he growls at me, than him trying to word something and we misunderstand each other."  
"That's one way of looking at it."  
"Hey, growling is very subtle."  
"If you say so..."  
"It really is. Anyway I gotta go. Bye, dad."  
"Bye." The sheriff shook his head. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

The teen slipped into the passenger seat gingerly. He leant over to the other man and kissed his lips chastely.  
"What do you need?"  
"You." He traced his thumb over the two butterfly strips over the wound on Stiles' cheek.  
"I'm right here." He kissed his mate again. "Come on. The puppies are waiting."  
"Ok."

The betas greeted them both enthusiastically, with lots of nuzzles and hugs and general touching. Erica and Lydia even slipped some kisses to Stiles' cheek in there, before the werewolves started their training and the two humans went to the kitchen to prepare some snacks.  
"Everything okay?"  
"Yeah. Well, college came up, when I told my dad and Derek, that we're going to San Francisco next week and me potentially leaving didn't go over well."  
"Oh. But we're still going, right?" The girl had a hopeful expression on her face.  
"Of course we are. We have to at least look, even if we may not get in."  
"Any doubts?"  
"I don't know. I mean I'm pretty sure I can get in, but..."  
"You don't know if you should leave?"  
"How can I leave them." He waved his arm in the direction where the rest of the pack was fighting.  
"Stiles, you are not leaving them. We are going to college and it's not that far away. You'll see each other on the weekends at least."  
"Logically I know that, but it doesn't feel right. It feels like I'm abandoning them...him."  
"Stiles." She took his head into her hands, staring into his eyes. "We are getting into Stanford and we will have the best college experience we can have and we are not abandoning anybody."  
He smiled faintly. "Okay."  
"And if it gets too bad, what do we have modern technology for? You can call, chat, skype or come in a matter of a few hours."  
"Still."  
"Jeez, Stiles. You are not making me go alone there. You are coming, end of discussion. Derek can manage a few days a week without you."  
"I don't know, if I can. You don't know what it feels like to be bonded."  
"No I don't. I can only imagine how powerful that is, but this is your future and you of all people don't want a degree from some noname local college. You would regret it for the rest of your life."  
"She's right." Derek's quiet voice came from the doorway.  
"Not the point, I know all that. In my head anyway." He whispered.  
The alpha hugged him and he melted into the familiar form. "We'll be fine."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes, I'm sure. I will not be the reason you didn't go to the college you want to go to. You will look at the campus next week and if you like it you will go there. And apparently you won't even be alone." He glanced at the girl, who nodded in agreement. Derek claimed Stiles' lips for a couple of seconds and let him go.  
"Are we good?" He searched his mate's eyes.  
"Yeah."  
"Are the snacks done soon?" The alpha asked with a smirk.  
"Patience."  
"Don't tell me, tell them."  
"Don't worry, they'll be ready, when you actually let them take a break."  
"Fair enough."  
At noon they served the snacks to the hungry wolves. After the refreshments Stiles joined the pack in training. He still sported his thin frame, but his muscles were more defined, since he had started training with the pack and learning to defend himself from Derek. He had gotten even stronger after they were mated and was now almost a match for the betas, as his senses kept sharpening and his speed and agility increased. Lydia watched all that from the porch. She was amazed at how much Stiles had changed, how much he had grown up. Mom, mate, friend.  
She was pulled from her musings, when Scott crashed into a tree, which Stiles had thrown him into. Derek watched all that arms crossed in front of his chest. The others attacked each other in similar ways with similar results, flying several meters through the air and landing rolling back to their feet. The human girl had meandered back inside at some point and started to prepare their dinner. At six the alpha mate came in and poured himself a glass of water, thoroughly covered in dirt.  
"Come here." She ordered him and he complied.  
Lydia Martin pulled some dry leaves out of his hair and slid her fingers across the thin band aids on his cheek and pulled them off.  
"What...?" Stiles looked at her in mild confusion.  
"All healed."  
He touched the spot where the wound had been. "Wow, it's getting faster."  
"The healing?"  
"Yeah, that should have taken a week and it's only been a day." His thoughts wandered to something he had been planning for a while now and incidentally wanted to do when they were in San Francisco, so no one would try talking him out of it. But his developing healing powers however could interfere with his plans. It seemed like he had to wait and see.  
"Need help?"  
"Yeah, as soon as you have cleaned up."  
He grinned. "Be back in ten."

Late afternoon the next day Derek brought his mate home. Before the alpha exited the vehicle completely Stiles looked at him sharply.  
"Go in my window." A second later he nodded and started to circle the house.  
The younger Stilinski opened the front door with his key and walked into the living room.  
"What gives?" He turned to the guest opposite his father.  
"Mr. Argent has some concerns about you."  
"About me or the company I keep?"  
"Both."  
"Which are?" He inquired, with a serious expression.  
"They are dangerous." Chris Argent offered.  
"No shit."  
"Stiles." His father reprimanded him.  
"What are you then? A boy scout?" He was trying really hard not to get angry.  
"I'm trying to look out for you, you shouldn't be around them."  
"Too fucking late."  
"Stiles." John tried again sharply.  
"He knows by the way." The teen pointed at his father.  
"You let him turn you?" The hunter was genuinely concerned now and his hand hovered near his gun.  
"Fuck no. You sure you want to pull a gun in here?"  
The other man relaxed a little.  
"Door's open." Stiles stated to the room, but sure enough the front door was opened and someone stepped inside. "What's Peter doing here, dad?" He asked right before the werewolf came into view.  
"We were gonna catch the game." he answered innocently.  
"You are keeping bad company, Sheriff."  
"Since when is family bad company?"  
Peter snorted. "You haven't met his."  
Chris looked dumbfounded for a moment. "Humor me for a sec, Chris. Where does power come from?"  
"Pack."  
"And?"  
"Family."  
"Same thing."  
"A mate."  
"So you did pay attention in hunter school and Allison really doesn't tell you anything. I'm impressed."  
"What didn't she tell me?"  
"That the alpha has a mate." He let his eyes flash red.  
The hunter took a step back, but refrained from reaching for his gun again. "He's here, isn't he?"  
"Sure is."  
"Why..?"  
The teen barked out a laugh. "You seriously think I'd walk my alpha in the front door with you here?" Not really a question.  
"So you did let him turn you..." Chris Argent was confused.  
"Hell no, I'd be worse than him." He waved his hand vaguely in his uncle’s direction.  
"He's a monster." The hunter exclaimed.  
"My point exactly. Sorry, Peter. Being happy and positive is a choice, because the alternative wouldn't be pretty. And becoming an alpha instantly would take that choice. No control, whatsoever. But you would like that, it would give you the perfect excuse to kill me and then them."  
"No." Chris was shocked.  
"Don't be shy about it. You like creating monsters, beside yourself. Remind me, who's responsible for him being the psycho that he is?" He pointed at Peter again, who growled lowly this time. He was on a roll, but calm, which kept the wolves calm.  
"That wasn't me." He tried to stand his ground.  
"No, that was your sister, led by your father. There's bad company." He could feel the alphas imperceptible growl vibrate through the house, as he made his way downstairs slowly. "I told you before, this is my pack and I will protect them. If you touch any of them, you will regret it." Derek appeared behind him. "Unlike you, they're not killers."  
The hunter took a breath, about to say something.  
"Shut up and leave." He sighed. "Stay away from us."

His father was completely confused and angry to learn how much danger his son had been in. Apparently on a regular basis and not even from supernatural causes. Stiles glanced over his father and went to his room after Chris Argent left.  
"I need a beer." The sheriff exclaimed, addressing no one in particular.  
Peter followed him to the kitchen. "Can I have one?"  
"Sure." He handed the younger man a bottle.  
The alpha followed them with his eyes, then turned to go back upstairs. He entered the room without making a sound.  
"Derek." The teen lay on his bed, facing the window.  
"Yeah." He answered softly.  
"You want to watch the game, too?"  
"Wouldn't be opposed to it."  
Stiles rolled on his back and looked up at his mate. "Go, I need a nap."  
The wolf leant over him and captured his lips for a chaste kiss. "I'll wake you in an hour."  
"Hmm." He turned back on his side and closed his eyes.  
Nearly an hour later he opened his eyes again. He sighed deeply and pulled himself up. Downstairs he actually growled at Peter, who was sharing the couch with his nephew to get him away. The former alpha turned his head with an amused expression, which vanished when he saw Stiles' eyes ablaze and vacated his seat in favor of the other armchair beside it.  
"Damn." He muttered to himself.  
The youngest man padded around the furniture and dropped himself beside his mate, curling himself up on his side with his head on Derek's thigh. The older man's hand came up almost immediately to stroke through his hair. The soothing motion elicited their hum, which lulled him back to sleep, despite the loud game playing on the TV.  
Derek caught his uncle staring at him after a while. "Don't look at me, you budged." His long fingers never ceased their caresses.  
"Like I had a choice."  
"I admit he can be persuasive." The alpha stated with a smirk.  
"He was a sweet kid once." John said with an accusing look.  
"If you mean loud and annoying as hell, then you are right, Sheriff." Peter supplied.  
"That, too. But he wasn't hard."  
"How is him being tougher a bad thing? He's growing up and into his role."  
"It's not. It's just happening so fast. And he shouldn't have a role like that, at his age."  
"I chose that path, dad. And can you not talk about me, like I'm not here?"  
He opened his eyes and sat up to look at the others. For some reason he was getting antsy, despite being tired. "I'm going for a run."  
Derek grabbed his wrist before he was out of reach. "Want me to come?"  
"No, it's fine. Watch your game."  
"Stiles."  
"It's fine." He leant down to kiss the older man's lips and left a few minutes later, after changing his clothes.

He ran through the woods without aim, on a trail he knew would get him far away from town. Eight miles into his run he stopped at a bench overlooking the valley. He did a few exercises to loosen his limbs and stretched a little. He hadn't paid attention, so he was surprised when someone addressed him.  
"You run here often?"  
"Not really." He answered in turning. He looked into a young man's face, who was about his age.  
"Have I seen you somewhere before?"  
"I don't think so." Stiles looked him over. Dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin. If they had ever crossed paths, he didn't remember.  
"You look familiar. You go to Beacon Hills High."  
"Yeah."  
"Lacrosse team?"  
"Yeah."  
"My brother is a sophomore, I've been to a few games with him. He wants to try out next year."  
"He should, a bunch of us are graduating in the summer. What about you?"  
"I graduated two years ago and work at a book store now. I'm Michael by the way."  
"Stiles." They shook hands. He looked at the setting sun. "I should get going, it's getting late."  
"Okay. Maybe I'll see you at the next game."  
"Maybe. Nice meeting you."  
"Likewise, bye."  
Stiles continued his path along the ridge, but turned into the woods after a couple hundred yards. He was focused now and his senses open, so he heard Isaac coming towards him, five minutes before the other boys vector met with his.  
"Hey pup." He greeted the shy boy, who just smiled, falling into pace with him. "Coming with?"  
"Can I?"  
"Sure." They picked up the pace a little, until about a mile from his house, when he fell into a slow jog and then walked the last two hundred yards.  
"Any plans for tonight?"  
"No, Danny is still hesitant."  
"The altercation Friday probably didn't help. It wasn't wolf related though."  
"Yeah, I don't know. I really hope we can work this out."  
"Me, too." He keyed them into the house. "Hey dad. What's for dinner?"  
"We ordered pizza."  
"Let me guess, Peter's idea." He smiled menacingly at the former alpha, while his mate came over to kiss his lips in greeting.  
"You both should go shower." Derek said with a smile.  
"Really? No kidding."  
"No kidding." He pecked the teen’s lips, and slapped his butt lightly, to get him moving.  
The two students went upstairs. Stiles showered first and laid some clothes out for the other one, he had left there at some point and went back downstairs.  
"Hey, honey." He let his arms slip around the older man's waist standing at the open fridge and lay his head on his shoulder.  
"You good, now?" Derek asked quietly.  
"Yeah, thoroughly decompressed." Stiles kissed his neck. "I know I've changed." He whispered into his ear.  
"For the better, Stiles. You're calm now and in control."  
"I did lose part of myself."  
"Told you, you would." Peter grabbed a beer past them from the fridge.  
"And I told you, nothing I'd particularly miss. It just feels weird."  
"It'll fade." His mate tilted his head to rub his stubble against his smooth cheek, grabbed a beer as well and closed the door. The doorbell rang and Peter practically ran to the door.  
"You are paying." Stiles yelled after him and to Derek. "Did someone forget to feed him all week?"  
The alpha just shrugged, as his beta joined them in the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, which he downed and immediately refilled. Peter came back with three large pizza boxes.  
"We have salami, parma and cheese."  
"Come on. Can you make it any more unhealthy?" Stiles said accusingly.  
"I'll live." His father took plates from the cupboard. "How far did you run?"  
"I don't know, about thirteen miles?"  
"What?" His father eyed him in disbelieve.  
"Yeah, to the clearing with the bench at the cliff that overlooks the valley and back through the woods."  
"Since when are you running such distances?"  
"I don't usually, I just needed to clear my head." He shrugged and put a slice on his plate.  
His father shook his head and took some pizza as well, as did the others and all went back to the living room. Shortly after they had settled down with the food, Erica and Boyd came in, plates in hand and sat down in front of the couch, where Stiles had snuggled up to Derek and Isaac beside him.  
"Where did they come from?" The sheriff asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"Window." Peter explained.  
"Right. You do know we have a front door?"  
Erica smiled at him and nodded, biting into the pizza.  
"Not big on front doors, dad. Windows tend to be already open and it's not like it is an inconvenience for them. What made you come anyway?"  
"Isaac didn't come home." Boyd answered him.  
The rest of the pack laughed at how easy it was to get them to come looking for their fellow beta.

Come Friday, Derek waited for his mate outside the school, because him and Lydia were leaving right after class ended for San Francisco. The alpha was leant against his car and the teen sunk into him locking their lips immediately in a lasting passionate kiss and soon earned them the attention of a lot of passing students. Some whistles, giggles, even some disgusted sounds. None of which registered with the couple. When their kissing and groping, Derek's for the most part, was bordering indecent, Lydia cleared her throat beside them. Stiles relinquished the older man's lips reluctantly and put their foreheads together.  
"I'll be right there, Lyds." He held the keys to his car out to the girl, to go ahead.  
He put his hands on either side of the werewolf's face and pulled his head back to look into his eyes.  
"I'll miss you." Derek whispered.  
"I'll be back on Sunday, honey."  
"Hmm."  
Stiles Stilinski pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead and then pecked his lips once more.  
"You be good."  
"Can't promise you anything."  
"That's my Sourwolf." The teen smiled.  
"I love you." The wolf's mouth was beside the shell of his ear and his voice barely audible.  
"Love you, too."  
After a bone crushing hug and another short but sweet kiss the younger man left.

It took them three and half hours to get to the apartment in San Francisco. It had a nice view of the city and two bedrooms.  
"This is nice." Stiles stated, when they had settled in their rooms and were standing on the balcony to take in the scenery.  
"It's okay." Was as much as the girl admitted to.  
"Do we get groceries to make something to eat or do we just order in?"  
"Order, there's not much here anyway."  
"Chinese?"  
"Sounds good."  
They didn't do much that evening, they had an early morning and wanted to look at both colleges the next day. Stiles had called both his father and his mate, to let them know the drive went smoothly and they had a great apartment for the weekend.

They went to Berkeley first, because it was closer and were done with their tour at noon. They got food from a truck at a beach promenade. After they ate Lydia wanted to visit some of the shops, while Stiles got himself a coffee and walked a little. He was leaning against a balustrade, when he noticed a small boy beside him, maybe two or three years old, almost touching his face to the fabric of his jeans. The blonde boy looked up with big blue eyes when he noticed the man had noticed him. The teen crouched down in front of the toddler, who took a few of his small steps backwards and stared at him in awe.  
"It's rude to sniff people in public little wolf." Stiles said quietly with a smile.  
Immediately he felt a gaze fixed on himself and the child and looked up to smile at the young brunette woman starting to walk towards them, a glare on her features. "Jason, come here."  
"Hi, I'm Stiles." He extended his hand, still smiling.  
She picked up the little boy and eyed him cautiously. "Who are you?"  
He let his hand sink to his side. "I'm Stiles...Stilinski." He repeated. "Sorry, if I startled you."  
"Why are you here? What...?" She stopped, when she caught his scent, confused.  
"I'm looking at colleges and no, I'm not a werewolf, just a mate." He was smiling again.  
"Where?" She hugged the child close to her body.  
"You probably don't know it, Beacon Hills is quite small."  
She caught a glimpse of his triskele necklace. "Hale."  
"Yes, how do you know?" Now he was cautious.  
"They were very well known, before they were murdered."  
"I didn't know that." He admitted.  
"So Derek rebuilt his pack?"  
"You know him?"  
"I knew Laura."  
"I'm sorry." He looked at his shoes.  
"How did you know, he was a wolf?"  
"You heard what I said, he sniffed me." He lifted his head again, as the toddler grabbed for his face. He held his hand up with a grin, for Jason to grab, which he did.  
"Yes, I heard you, but how did you know?"  
"I smelled it."  
"But you're human."  
"Well, human alpha mate with a completed bond."  
"Wait, Derek's the alpha."  
"Yes."  
"Oh." She processed the information. "But how are you this? I mean I've heard about human mates, but you are..."  
"More? That's what Derek and Peter said. I don't know, but apparently there was another like me in their family."  
"Is he here?"  
"Derek? No, I came with a friend. We both want to go to Stanford. Are you local?"  
"Yes. Sorry, Katharine Fletcher." This time she extended her hand, which he shook. "And this is my son Jason." She smiled down at her cub.  
"Kat."  
They both looked up. Stiles saw a tall man, with dark blond hair coming towards them and Katharine's face light up. She pecked the man's lips and he took the child from her arms. The little boy snuggled into his father, face buried at his neck rubbing it over the exposed skin a few times. The teen chuckled at the motion.  
"Hi, I'm Stiles." His extended hand was grabbed and given a firm squeeze.  
"Connor." He looked at the woman questioningly, then turned back. "Wait, you're not the Hale mate, no one's ever met, are you?"  
"Sounds like he's hiding me, if you put it like that."  
"You were kind of supposed to be at the last meet, as newly mated, to be introduced."  
"What?" Stiles was flabbergasted.  
"It's tradition." Connor explained.  
"Great, he didn't even tell me, because I have finals coming up."  
"I'd say that's a valid reason." Katharine chimed in.  
"Stiles!"  
He waved at the girl.  
"This is Lydia and these are Connor, Jason and Katharine." He introduced.  
"Hi." She looked at Stiles questioningly. "We have to get going, by the way."  
"They are from the local pack." He glanced at his watch. "Oh damn. Sorry, we actually have to go." He smiled at the small family again. "You should come visit some time."  
"That would be nice." Katharine said.  
"You have Derek's number, right?" He asked the alpha.  
"Yeah."  
"Cool, see ya."

They both loved the Stanford campus. The tour took about two hours and after, they set on the grass in the afternoon sun.  
"I really want to go here." Stiles said absentmindedly.  
"Me, too."  
"Do you have any plans for tonight?"  
"Maybe a club. You?"  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."  
"Oh?"  
"I..." He hesitated. "You can't talk me out of this."  
"Out of what?"  
He took out his phone and showed her a picture.  
"Nice, you have a picture of Derek's back." She said unimpressed.  
"I have an appointment at a tattoo shop."  
"Are you serious?"  
"Yes."  
"Same spot?" Lydia searched his eyes.  
"Yeah. I thought about others, but I'm his, so..."  
"Might as well be marked in the same place?"  
"Something like that, I guess."  
"Want me to come with?"  
"Only if you want to. I can do it alone." He grinned confidently.  
"Don't be silly, of course I'm coming."

It took a little over two hours to apply the ink under his skin and surprisingly it didn't hurt half as much, as Stiles had thought and since he didn't see it done he wasn't in danger of fainting, like he had, when Scott had gotten his tattoo. When the tattoo artist was done, he showed him his work in a mirror. Stiles was thrilled, it looked exactly like the one in between Derek's shoulder blades.  
"Thank you." He paid the man and left with his friend.  
"I just hope it won't vanish."  
"Why would it?"  
"Because it did, when Scott got his and Derek burned it with a blowtorch to make it visible again. Not big on the use of blowtorches on my fair skin."  
"Eww." The girl exclaimed.  
"You can say that again."  
"But you're no wolf."  
"Still, somewhere about half way there, including faster healing."  
"Right. I hope it doesn't, it looks really good."  
"Thank you." He smiled and kissed her cheek. "It's still early. Did you have a club in mind?"  
"Yes and as per chance, it's right around the corner."  
They had a good time. While Lydia was dancing, alone and later with some guy or the other, Stiles watched over their drinks and sat fairly still because his back was starting to get sore from the bazillion needle stabs. But every time he thought about his new tattoo, a smile crept onto his face. He wasn't sure how Derek would react, but he hoped he would accept his mark of possession to him. To him this club was awesome, people of the female variety vastly ignored him and the men did anyway, because this wasn't a gay club, so he could nurse his coke undisturbed and have a watchful eye over his companion. Not that she needed any help, when one of her dance partners got too handsy.  
"Should I introduce you?"  
"To whom?" He didn't turn to the deep male voice beside him, in favor of watching Lydia.  
"The pretty girl you are staring at."  
"You think I need it?" This time he turned and looked into dark brown eyes.  
"I don't know, do you?"  
Stiles laughed at him. "No, I don't. I came with her."  
"And you don't have a problem with her dancing with others?"  
"Why would I? She's not my girlfriend."  
"Would have surprised me." The other one said with a raised eyebrow.  
"Thank you." Stiles replied icily. "You can go now." He shooed him from his side with a dismissive hand gesture.  
At midnight Stiles went to pry his friend from her current dance partner on the dance floor.  
"Hey Lyds. We're leaving." He slid his arm around her waist and swept her away, leaving a stunned young man staring after them.  
"Aww, you are no fun, Stilinski."  
"I am. But we wanted to take a look at the city tomorrow...well, today actually and I planned on getting on the road after lunch. No rest for the wicked my dear."  
"Seriously, you are evil."  
"Maybe a little."  
He grinned at her and pulled her along. They strolled along the promenade in comfortable silence, when Stiles felt the urge to pull out his phone. He hit the one on his speed dial and waited. His father didn't have to know he was only second on that list.  
"Hey, babe. Any reason you're calling so late?" Derek's smooth deep voice answered.  
A happy smile spread across the teens face. "Just wanted to hear your voice."  
"Now you have. Goodnight."  
"Hey, don't be mean. You weren't sleeping anyway."  
"True. I couldn't."  
"Why?"  
"I miss you."  
"You too, hon."  
"Me, too." Lydia said sleepily, leaning into him heavily.  
"Why is Lydia with you?"  
"We're still walking to the apartment."  
"Were you out?"  
"Just a little. Are you jealous?"  
"Should I be?" The alpha had amusement in his voice.  
"You have no reason to be, but it's nice to know, you would be."  
"When will you be home?"  
"In the afternoon. We'll drive back after lunch."  
"How was your visit?"  
"Good. It's really great here..." His voice faded to the end and there was a long silence at the other end. "We're almost there. I'll see you later. Bye." He disconnected the line quickly, before his mate could say anything, when the gravity of his decision hit him with full force. He was afraid to be so far away from him.  
"Did you just hang up on him?"  
"I can't do this. I can't even be without him for a few days." His eyes were tearing up.  
Lydia unlocked the door and dragged him inside before he lost it completely. She sat him down on the couch, sitting beside him turned to him. Involuntary tears streaked his cheeks and he buried his face in his hands. The girl didn't know what to do with her friend, he seemed so desperate. The only thing that came to mind was hugging him, which she did and he leant into her. They fell asleep together. Lydia woke first. She stroked his face lightly, before she got up for a coffee run, they both needed, accompanied by some bagels. Stiles only woke, when she held the dark strong steaming liquid in front of his nose.  
Stiles Stilinski fell into consciousness with a start. "Wha...?" Then he sighed. "Lydia. Morning." He grabbed the offered beverage and sat up. "Thank you." He took a bagel as well.  
"You still wanna take a look around?" She asked tentatively.  
"Would you be mad, if I said I wanted to go home?"  
"No, we'll have plenty of time to explore once we live here." She answered chipper.  
"Lydia..."  
"You're not getting out of this, Stiles. You'll get your wolfy act together and learn to be okay without your mate there 24/7. And here you'll have plenty of distractions, you won't even have all that much time to miss him."

When he put his jeep into park in front of Lydia's house he looked over to her before she got out.  
"I'm sorry."  
"No need to apologize. See you."  
He started the car again, as his friend entered the house and took a detour to his house, to unload his bags, before he drove to the Hale mansion. He stared at the beautifully restored building for a couple of minutes, until he heard the camaro coming up the dirt road stopping beside him. They both exited their vehicles and Derek came around to him.  
"You're back early." It wasn't even noon yet. He looked the younger man over. "Stiles...?"  
The teen wordlessly hugged him, pressing his face into the other man's neck.  
"You okay?"  
The alpha ran his hands up and down the boys back and felt him nodding slightly against his neck. Derek removed his hands from the back, slid them underneath the others arms around him and bent his knees a little. Stiles automatically pushed himself from the ground and put his arms and legs around the wolf's body. Instead of his usual clamping down on his mate, leaving no space between their bodies, the teen tilted his head all the way back baring the soft flesh of his throat. His alpha was surprised, his mate had never so openly submitted to him, but he took his offer. He gently placed his lips on the soft skin under the younger man's jaw, in a hesitant kiss. He breathed heavily a few times, before he opened his mouth and scraped his teeth along the tender throat. Stiles swallowed hard a few times at the sensation of total loss of control. He gave himself completely to the mercy of his alpha, who could kill him in an instant, if he felt like it. The teeth left his skin and were soon replaced by a tongue licking along his throat and jawline. Derek stepped forward to steady them against the jeep.  
"Ow." Stiles' back connected a little too hard with the door for the still sensitive skin.  
"What?" Derek loosened his grip on him and let him slide down to stand on his own feet.  
"It's nothing." He whispered and took his lover's hand to drag him inside. "Where are the pups?"  
"Out. Isaac I think is with Danny, Erica and Boyd, I have no idea, they just said, that they'd be back by dinner."  
"God, I need a shower and coffee."  
Derek unlocked the door and they stepped into the hall. "I'll make you coffee."  
"Thank you." He kissed the werewolf and went upstairs.  
Stiles was refreshed, as he padded back into their bedroom, only a towel around his hips. He was about to open a drawer to get some comfortable clothes, when he heard his mate coming. He turned to face the door.  
"Coffee is ready." The alpha said with a smile, which was replaced by a frown, when his gaze fell on the window and the reflection in it.  
"What did you do?" He was in front of the younger man in an instant and grabbed his shoulders to turn him. He stared at the black mark in disbelieve. "Why?"  
"You claimed me, so now I carry your mark."  
"You already did." He touched the band which held the small silver triskele.  
Stiles turned to face his lover. "I wanted this. I am claimed and I want it to be known. The same claim I lay on you." Stiles searched the pale eyes opposite his own. "I wanted this." He repeated.  
"You shouldn't have." Derek breathed.  
"But I did." He laid one hand on the older man's cheek. "I belong here...to you."  
"That..." The alpha pointed to his back. "...is possession."  
"Yes. It's supposed to."  
Derek closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. He sighed. "Your coffee's getting cold."  
Stiles smiled. "Then we shouldn't let it wait." He kissed his mate's soft lips. He let the towel slip down and grabbed boxers from the open drawer, to put them on. Derek tossed him a t-shirt and some sweat pants.  
The werewolf had propped his feet on the coffee table and his mate had his feet in his lap leaning against the arm rest of the two seater.  
"Best coffee you ever made for me." The teen grinned.  
"You exaggerate." Derek said laughing.  
"Maybe a little. Good for the ego though."  
Derek looked down on his hands gently massaging Stiles' calves. "When's your next match? I haven't seen you play in a while."  
"Well, you're in luck, honey. Next one's Saturday. Then you can gawk all you want."  
"I don't gawk."  
"Lust after my every move?"  
"Better."  
"Enjoy a good game?"  
"When you're all on the field, definitely."  
"We will be."  
"Should be enjoyable then."  
"You're a jerk. You know that, right?" He leant forward a little.  
"I know and you still love me." Derek leant toward him as well.  
"Damn, I do." He moved in the last bit and kissed the dark haired man.  
Derek's right hand moved up to his knee and squeezed lightly. Stiles squealed and tried to squirm away from the tickles, which continued at his waist. He was laughing and screaming for his lover to stop, because seriously how was he supposed to get out of a werewolf grip. When the wolf eased up on his torture, he noticed, that Isaac was just coming in the front door.  
"Who's my puppy?" Stiles cajoled through the house.  
The young beta wandered into the living room and nuzzled his alpha over the back of the couch for a second, before he moved around to the armrest to thoroughly nuzzle Stiles' neck.  
"Welcome home, mom."  
They were distracted by the low growl the older man emitted.  
"What?...Oh, hi Danny." Stiles peeked over the back of the couch to where the goalie stood in the doorway, looking slightly scared.  
"Can he stay for dinner?" Isaac whispered.  
The alpha mate glanced at the unhappy face of his lover staring straight ahead. "Yes. We'll start when the others come back."  
"Okay, thanks." He left and dragged his boyfriend behind him, up the stairs to his room.  
Stiles grabbed Derek's hand and pulled him with him, as he lay back down. The werewolf's throat and chest vibrated in an imperceptible growl rippling through the younger man's body, when he settled between his legs, with his head on the others chest. The human hugged his head close and raked his fingers through the raven hair. Derek was slowly losing consciousness. Stiles could feel him slipping away, feel his mind calming, feel the hum.

"Are they dead?"  
The blond were-girl had tilted her head to the side and curiously looked down at the two men lying entangled on the couch. Her companion looked a little worried himself and turned around when Isaac came back down, to look what was going on.  
Stiles sighed. "We're not dead. Don't even joke about something like that."  
"Could have fooled me. You were barely breathing and your hearts were beating like twice a minute or something." Erica replied.  
"Erica." His warning tone shook her a little.  
"Sorry, mom."  
"If you have nothing better to do than watch us nap, go start dinner."  
"That was not a nap, you were practically comatose."  
"Erica, please." He warned her again mildly.  
"Fine." She turned around and the boys followed.  
Derek hadn't moved a muscle the whole time, though his heart rate had gone up to its normal speed again. Stiles had started stroking the side of his face and placed a kiss to the top of his head.  
"You awake?"  
The older male nodded his head against his chest, still not moving otherwise. Still dazed, he wrapped his arms tighter around the thinner man's torso.  
"Am I your pillow now?" Stiles asked in a whisper.  
"Yes." The alpha breathed. "I'm tired."  
"We've been out for over two hours."  
"Didn't feel like sleeping."  
"No. You want to come home with me."  
"Yeah."  
"Before or after dinner?"  
"Can we go now?" The urge to leave here and be alone with his mate was almost overwhelming. Their state of complete nothingness had left him antsy, desperate to move and exhausted at the same time. They got up and moved to the door.  
"Puppies, we're going to my place." Stiles announced without raising his voice.  
Isaac immediately came into the hall. "I thought you were cooking with us."  
"Sorry, Isaac."  
"Is it because Danny is here?" The boy whispered.  
"No."  
The werewolf glanced at his alpha. "You alright?"  
Derek Hale touched his beta's shoulder gently and nodded, before he turned and walked out. He waited for his mate in his jeep. Stiles looked into the eyes of the blond.  
"He is fine. We are fine."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes, see you at school tomorrow."  
"Okay, bye."


	7. Chapter 7

His father wasn't home, when they got there, so they cozied up on the couch in front of the TV and put a DVD in. John Stilinski found the two of them like that, a couple of hours later, after his shift. They hadn't moved even as the film had ended.  
"You two wanna change location? It's almost eleven."  
Derek blinked and sighed before he sat up and looked at the sheriff.  
"I gather the bed would be more comfortable."  
"Yes..."  
Stiles let himself be pulled up to stand and looked at his father. "Hi, dad."  
"Welcome home, son."  
The teen smiled and again let himself be pulled with his mate, upstairs to his room. The alpha undressed him to his boxer shorts, then himself and gently pushed him onto the bed. He kissed his young mate feverishly, passionately, hungry. This time he left only one mild mark above his heart.  
"I missed you." The wolf breathed into his neck.  
"And we will miss each other more, when I go to college."  
"I know." He nuzzled his face further into the younger man's neck.  
"I met someone in San Francisco."  
"Excuse me?" Derek's head jerked up suddenly.  
"Connor Fletcher and his family." The younger man chuckled at his exasperation.  
The wolf settled back down. "Leave it to you, to go into the city once and immediately meet the resident alpha."  
"Not my fault, his cute little son sniffed me out. Knows an alpha when he meets one."  
"I bet he does. Jason, right?"  
"Yeah. I invited them to come some time."  
"Okay."  
"Really?"  
"Yes, he's a decent guy."  
"I knew you liked him, you can brood together."  
Stiles felt the extending claws on the creamy flesh of his stomach.  
"Come on, I love you, just the way you are, broody, snarly, general grumpyness, the works. Is that an alpha thing?"  
"No."  
"By the way, you could have told me that I was supposed to be at the last meet."  
"You have finals coming up."  
"You should have at least told me."  
"You still couldn't have come."  
"They think you are hiding me."  
"I'm not."  
"I know that." Stiles kissed the wolf's lips briefly. "What happened to you before?"  
"I don't know, I just needed to get away and be alone with you." He pressed in closer to Stiles' side.  
"It's okay." He raked his fingers through the black hair.

In the morning the teen stood in front of the mirror, back facing it and twisted his head to look at the triskele.  
"It's not fading." He mused.  
The wolf was still lounging in bed and merely lifted an eyebrow. "Should it?"  
"Hello! Alpha mate, here. Healing and all..."  
"If nothing happened so far, I'm pretty sure nothing will. Scott's vanished just a few minutes after he got it, right?"  
"Yeah. What about yours?"  
"I knew what would happen and I knew what it would take to make it permanent."

"No way!" Scott exclaimed behind Stiles when he took his shirt off after practice and revealed the massive tattoo on his back.  
"Way." The brunette replied sarcastically without turning around. "You have one, why shouldn't I?"  
That statement got Isaac and Jackson to round the lockers to look at him.  
"But not that." His best friend continued.  
"What else would I get?"  
"Looks good." Isaac simply said.  
"That's dedication." Jackson snarked.  
"You expect any less?" And to his favorite. "Thank you."  
A few others that were looking his way, or more accurately at his back, also let out sounds of astonishment. Probably more because he usually was the quiet one that surely never would get a tattoo, much less one that size.  
"Scotty, deal with it. I know why I didn't tell anyone beforehand."  
"I like it." Isaac grinned and went back to getting dressed.  
Jackson shrugged and got back to his locker as well, which left Scott still staring in disbelief.  
"Seriously, get a grip dude. It's not going away."  
"Why did you do it?"  
"Because I wanted it. Don't look so shocked, you got your mark, I got mine."  
"His." Scott stressed.  
"Well, now it's ours."

Derek sat with the Sheriff on the bleachers, even Peter was there to cheer the team on. In the row in front of them sat the women, Melissa, Lydia, Erica and Allison, clapping, as they just had scored a goal. All his betas and his mate were on the field and it was satisfying to see how well they interacted with each other and reacted to the most subtle movements the others on the field didn't percept. The opposing team was virtually crushed due to the five pack members on the Beacon Hills lacrosse team.  
Stiles spotted Michael coming towards him after the game had ended a slightly shorter boy in tow.  
"Hi Stiles."  
"Hey. This your brother?"  
"Yes, Anthony. Good game you played."  
"Thank you. Yeah we manage."  
"You more than manage."  
"Well, we do have a good coach and we're in sync." He looked the younger brother over. "You should try out for the team, if you want to."  
The boy nodded shyly. Stiles had wanted to say something else when Derek interrupted them. He nonchalantly slipped an arm around his waist to drag him away.  
"Come on, we're all going for pizza." As usual he didn't pay much attention to the other two.  
"I'll be right there." He pushed his mate back gently and pecked his lips. Derek walked back to the rest of the pack, minus the players who were already on their way to the locker room to change.  
"Sorry, he can be a little rude sometimes. I'll see you around. Bye."  
"You are gay?"  
Stiles sized him up with raised eyebrows. "Not particularly big on labels, but I'm with him, yeah. There a problem?"  
"No." Michael assure him quickly. "Just didn't expect that someone like you would be..."  
"Someone like me?"  
"An athlete?"  
It took a lot not to laugh at the young man.  
"Stiles, come on." His mate persistently urged him without raising his voice from fifty yards away.  
"You're a funny guy. Sorry really gotta go. Bye."

"Don't get your panties in a twist, I'm here." Stiles told his alpha when he came back from changing. Said alpha werewolf grabbed him and kissed him thoroughly, before he could get another word out. The teen grinned into the kiss and pulled back.  
"Who was that?" Derek growled lowly.  
"Michael, I met him the other day when I went running. His brother wants to join the team."  
"Ah."  
Stiles raked his blunt fingernails over the stubble on the older man's cheek and kissed him again.  
"Can you two stop sucking face long enough for us to get to the pizza place?" Peter's impatient voice carried over to them.  
"Shut up, Peter." He hugged Stiles close, but still started to move them in the direction of the parking lot.  
The teens were loud and in a good mood all over for having won another game and celebrating together with the whole pack and the people attached to them. They stood outside the restaurant after they had eaten and were mostly paired off. Erica and Boyd would be coming back with the alphas to the mansion, Isaac went with Danny, Scott with Allison, Jackson with Lydia and to his surprise his father gave Melissa a lift, only Peter would be going alone.

Almost all of their finals were over when the Fletcher pack decided to make a visit. Derek had known it would most likely happen that way, but Stiles was fairly surprised when seven instead of the expected three people showed up. The whole Hale pack was present, plus Lydia, because she was the only human appendage Derek actually tolerated around the pack without question.  
Derek and Stiles bowed their heads in greeting to the other alpha couple and then the betas repeated the motion. Connor introduced his pack members that had come along. His brother and sister and two turned betas. Derek introduced his own pack members and the betas were fairly surprised at the human mate, not so much that he was male and that they were all teenagers, but didn't comment on it, because it would have been rude and probably followed by a reprimand. Lydia wasn't outside with them for the all around greeting, because technically she wasn't in the pack, not completely anyway. When the formal stuff was finished Katharine had let Jason down and the little boy had started to explore all the new scents and new people around him. He had gone to Stiles first, grabbed at his trousers and had giggled up at him. The alpha mate had tussled his hair and grinned back. Derek led their guests through the house to the backyard where they had set up the barbecue and enough tables to seat them all. It was a little awkward at first, until the betas finally mingled and started conversations of their own instead of just listening to their alphas.  
Jason had at first cautiously circled Derek, until he was brave enough to approach the other alpha and sniff at his hand, which hung lazily off the armrest of his chair. Derek had been talking to Connor and didn't pay much attention to the toddler. When he felt the intakes of breath at his fingers he turned his head, to look at the boy, who looked back.  
"Boo."  
His voice wasn't loud, barely above a whisper, but the little one was so startled that he tumbled backwards a few steps and fell on his butt, eyes wide in surprise, staring at the alpha.  
Stiles chuckled beside him. "Don't be mean, Derek."  
"How am I mean?"  
Connor and Katharine chuckled as well, as their son kept staring at Derek.  
"Am I the first other alpha he met?"  
"Besides Stiles, yes."  
Stiles smiled at the open acknowledgement of him as an alpha, from Connor. "Hey, Jason."  
The boy blinked a few times and diverted his mesmerized gaze to Stiles and returned the smile.  
"You wanna see the pond?"  
The cub nodded deliberately.  
"That okay?" He asked Katharine.  
"Sure, can I come?"  
"Can your mom come, too?"  
Jason nodded again.  
"Anybody else wanna come?"  
Erica and Cornelius, Connors brother, stood as well. Jason got to his feet and took Stiles' hand and pulled him in the direction where he smelled the water. They followed the toddler rustling through dry leafs, until they reached the rather small body of water, which in spite of its size was sufficient for dips on warm days. The little boy stared at the miniscule ripples in fascination and how the reflected light danced on the trees and bushes around the water. Jason crouched at the edge and touched the surface with clumsy little fingers.  
After a while Cornelius stared at him. He felt it after just a few seconds and he looked back at him.  
"Something wrong?"  
"Trying to figure you out."  
"Care to elaborate on that?"  
The wolf narrowed his eyes. "You're not gay."  
Stiles snorted. "As far as the label goes, no. My mate is a man, that's pretty much where it ends with fairies and rainbows. Anything else you wanna know, while we're at it?"  
"How do you handle them?"  
"Easy, they love me." As in confirmation Erica nuzzled his neck.  
"And they call him 'mom'." They heard from the house.  
"Shut up, Derek."  
"You can hear him?"  
"I can hear him, I can sense you getting nervous and I can smell the other wolf that is all over you."  
"But you're human."  
"Yes. At least I was, not entirely there anymore. Shouldn't you know something like that, being a born wolf and all?"  
"Yes...no." He furrowed his brows. "You're different."  
"I've been hearing that."

After watching Jason play at the water a little longer they went back to the mansion. Stiles got his laptop and sat on the kitchen counter studying for his last final and distracting himself with the internet every now and then.  
Lydia had shoved a cookie in his hand and later a mug with coffee in passing. He had barely registered the movements around him, until he smelled Cornelius and looked up.  
"What?"  
The werewolf came closer, until he was stood right in front of the teen, leaning the slightest bit too much forward.  
"What do you think you are doing?"  
"I..."  
Stiles clamped his right hand around the beta’s throat and let his eyes flash red.  
"Like I told you. Not gay. Not interested in any other man, or woman for that matter, than mine. And what do you think would happen, when Derek smells you on me?" He squeezed tighter and the werewolf whined submissively. "Another reason why my puppies listen to me." Cornelius tried to growl, but only produced another whining sound. "Stay away from me and my pups." He hissed, before releasing the older man, who retreated backwards, almost bumping into Derek on the way out.  
Stiles put his computer aside and spread his legs a little for his mate to stand between them and smiled up into his face. The older man touched their noses together before he angled his face to capture the boy’s soft lips in a long loving kiss. They tasted slowly, gently moving their lips across each other’s, licking in between. They busied themselves for over ten minutes, until the other alpha stepped into the room cautiously. The teen pulled away, to look at the man.  
"You need something?" Stiles asked with a smile.  
"Did he do something?"  
"No. He's confused though."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Nothing to start a mess over."  
"He knows better."  
"I'm sure he does." Stiles sighed. "Listen Connor, nothing happened." Derek had silently stood where he was, watching his mates hands play with his own right one, while speaking. The remnants of his hyperactivity still present.  
"Thank you. Derek?"  
The young alpha looked at the other one. "Nothing happened." He agreed.  
"Again, I'm sorry." In that moment Jason shuffled in behind his father. As he picked his son up, he started to cry and stretched his little arms in Stiles' direction.  
"It's okay. I need a break anyway."  
"I thought I was your break." His mate protested.  
"You are, too." The human pecked his lips and hopped off the counter to take the child into his arms and went outside.  
"He definitely is something else." Connor stated.  
"He is and he can take care of himself."  
"That why you didn't intervene?"  
"He is the one who keeps everyone in check and he was completely calm."  
"He's your anchor."  
"Yes."  
"Your pack is young, but strong."  
"It is now, wasn't always."  
"You built your own pack. You didn't just take over an existing one, because it was your time."  
"It should never have been my time." Derek sighed.  
"Maybe not. But you're doing well."  
"I like to think so. A lot of that is his doing, though."  
"I can relate. Katharine does a lot of that for me. But I have to admit, she does not have that level of control over our betas."  
Derek chuckled. "He has his ways."

Isaac had followed Stiles outside, where the older teen had sat the child down. They walked up the dirt road for a bit, before Jason started playing with dry leafs on the side. After a while they heard a car turning towards them from the main road. Isaac heard it first, Stiles about ten seconds later as it got a little closer. When it came into sight, Stiles picked Jason up and stood, waiting for it to stop in front of them.

Inside the house and in the backyard the wolves of the Fletcher pack all looked up nervously.  
"Are you expecting someone?" Connor questioned the younger alpha.  
"No, but it sounds like the cruiser."  
"Police?" The older man was alarmed.  
"Yes." Before he could offer an explanation his guest was out of the kitchen and the house.

"What's up?" Stiles asked his father, when he exited the car.  
"You weren't answering your phone. I was worried." He stared at the toddler in his son's arms, who was leaning towards him, to what it looked like, sniff him. "Who's this?" And when he noticed a fast approaching man. "And who's that?" He took a step back, when he saw glowing red eyes.  
"This is Jason." He let the little boy lean farther to smell the scent of his father. "And that..." He turned towards the alpha as he reached them. "...is Connor Fletcher. He's the alpha from the Fletcher pack in San Francisco and Jason's father." He said with a smile. "Connor, this is my dad, Sheriff Stilinski."  
"Your dad?" The alpha looked confused.  
"Yes. Teenage human here, I have a dad." He grinned easily.  
"Uh, hi. Sorry. Nice to meet you, Sir." He held out his hand.  
"Hi." John shook the offered hand and was rather surprised by the gentleness of the squeeze.  
"So he's a werewolf, too?" John Stilinski gestured towards the two-year-old.  
Stiles laughed whole-heartedly, while Connor and Isaac looked a little baffled. "Yes, dad. The little one is a wolf, too. Wanna meet the rest of them?"  
"No...I mean yes, of course. But I need to get back to work. I just wanted to check on you."  
"Sorry, I left the phone in the charger."  
"Since when are you going anywhere without your phone?"  
He glanced back at the house. "I was distracted."  
The sheriff held up a hand. "Spare me the details."  
"Never mind. Have a good shift."  
"Thank you, son. Bye."

It was still early in the evening and Stiles asked if anybody wanted to come take a look around Beacon Hills’ center. Connor's sister Natalie and Katharine came with him, so did Erica. She had taken a shine to the youngest Fletcher sibling, closest to her own age and the two young women went into several boutiques, while Stiles and Katharine walked along the main street and had given Jason some frozen yogurt. When the toddler had finished his treat, he had started to inspect the flower bed and the colorful petals.  
The female alpha mate had noticed someone watching them, while Stiles was engrossed in watching her child.  
"Stiles, who is that?" She asked flatly.  
The teen looked up and followed her line of sight. "Jason come here."  
The cub ran over to them quickly, as he heard the slight distress in the male alpha mate's voice. Stiles picked him up and hugged him close to his body, all the while fixing the man across the street in a hard stare. He hid the little face against his neck and kept him there with his hand gently on the back of his head.  
"Hunter."  
"What?" The woman stared at him in fear.  
"Nothing to worry about. We have, let's call it a truce."  
"With hunters?"  
"Beacon Hills is our home and we don't give them any reason to do something."  
"Who are they?"  
Katharine saw pain flicker over Stiles' face. "Argents." His companion gasped. "The ones responsible for the fire are all dead."  
"Who...?"  
"Peter."  
"Oh." They had all heard rumors.  
"They won't do anything. He knows better." He pointed at Chris.  
"What do you mean?"  
"He knows I will do anything to protect my pack."  
"You sure?"  
"Very sure. Come on, we gotta get back anyway." He sent her a reassuring smile. "Erica we're going home." He didn't know which store they had went into, but sure enough, the two young werewolves stepped out of a building about a hundred yards ahead. 

Since they had only one guest bedroom, which the alphas and their son got to sleep in, Boyd and Isaac gave up their rooms for the other betas. Boyd would sleep with Erica most nights anyway and Isaac was more than comfortable sharing with them.  
Stiles was lying on top of Derek, his head on his chest with his forehead at the base of the older man's neck, one leg between the alpha's, the other one bent at his hip and knee and his arms spread to the sides. He was twitchy that night, so his mate hugged him close to keep him relatively still.  
In the early hours of the morning Isaac slipped into their room and stood beside the bed for a few minutes indecisive, until Derek let his hand slide from Stiles' back down to the empty space beside them and padded the sheet lightly. The blond lay down and grabbed the hands of his pseudo parents that lay there between his own drawing them to his chest. He sniffed them and fell back asleep curled up beside them.  
Stiles woke up to his twitching fingers on a soft cheek with equally soft stubble and another hand holding it in place. He opened his eyes slowly to the glaring morning sun, smiling at the sight of his favorite pressing their hands to his face, sleeping soundly. Without thinking about it he kissed the skin beneath his head and rubbed his face into his mate's chest. He let his free hand slide up and down the side of the older man's naked torso, relishing the feeling of the smooth tanned skin. He started trailing small kisses along Derek's collar bone and dug his teeth into the firm muscle at the shoulder. The alpha flinched slightly, clamping his hand around the back of Stiles' neck to stop him from biting him again. He pulled his head back a little to kiss the younger man deeply.  
"You gonna keep making out?" Isaac tugged at their hands gently.  
"No complaining when you're in our bed and we're just saying good morning." Stiles scolded him.  
He brushed his index finger over the younger teen's jaw and retrieved his hand to get up. He kissed his lover once more, after he got dressed and left the two wolves to get up at their own accord. Derek would growl his beta out of his bed soon enough.  
Stiles was only vaguely aware of the foreign smells that wafted throughout the house, but his mind was still too sleepy, so he walked into the kitchen wearing only sweatpants, barefoot and topless. He stopped in his tracks, when his gaze fell on the little blond boy sitting on the floor in front of the sink.  
"Right..." He said quietly to himself. "Morning little one." He smiled down to the child, who smiled back at him.  
"Morning Stiles." A cheerful voice said beside him.  
He flailed. "Jeez. Don't do that." Was the greeting Katharine got from him.  
"Sorry, sometimes I forget you are human."  
"Well, enough so that I don't hear you when I'm still half asleep and you freaking werewolves don't make ANY sound moving around." He clarified.  
"Thought you should be used to that by now." She smirked.  
"Yeah. Fun fact though, my own wolves very rarely manage to surprise me. Right, Boyd?"  
"True."  
"And he really doesn't make a sound."  
"Nice tattoo, by the way." The woman pointed at his back.  
"Thank you."  
"But why do you still wear the one around your neck?"  
Stiles smiled. "The necklace was a gift, the tattoo is a statement."  
"I'd say both are pretty clear and possessive."  
"Which goes both ways." He winked at her, as he felt Derek press his lips to the center of his tattoo and dump a t-shirt on his head.  
"You could at least be decent, when we have guests." The alpha mumbled into his skin.  
"As far as that goes I think male werewolves have a thing for topless." Katharine stated, just as her own husband walked into the room, very much shirtless.  
Stiles turned to look at Connor and both alpha mates burst out laughing. When the teen caught his breath, he looked back at the female with a raised eyebrow.  
"I think you are on to something there."  
"I thought so." She answered, right before her mate kissed her good morning and picked up his son, to nuzzle his little face. The boy giggled and mirrored the motion. Stiles watched them fondly, while his mate nuzzled his neck and placed a kiss in his hair.  
"Oh gawd, how can you be so disgustingly cute, this early in the morning." Natalie complained as she walked in. "Is there gonna be breakfast?"  
"The first one's talent and the second is a definite yes." Stiles answered her with a smirk.  
This time the wolves didn't flinch, when the sheriff's car pulled up and the man made his way into the house. Derek had just removed himself from Stiles' back to greet him, when his father in law walked in and was rooted to the spot, staring at his son. Derek Hale froze at the expression of utter disbelief that turned into anger fast.  
"You haven't seen..."  
"I most certainly have not."  
"Morning, dad." He turned around beaming at his father, all the while ignoring the tension completely. "You already met Jason and Connor. This is Katharine, his mate and this is Natalie, Connor's sister."  
"Hi." He sighed. "Can we get back to the enormous splotch of ink on your back?"  
"It's a tattoo, dad."  
"I can see that. Why is it there?"  
"Because I wanted it."  
"Same as his?" The older man asked with raised eyebrows pointing at the alpha.  
"Yes, same as Derek's."  
"Again why?"  
"Because we belong together."  
The sheriff sighed again dramatically. "Fine, I still don't have to like it and I get pancakes."  
"I can live with that." Stiles grinned and started working on their breakfast, delegating the assignments to get everything done for thirteen people. The rest of the wolves trailed downstairs and they were all there by the time they were finished cooking. John Stilinski enjoyed the feeling of family the two packs spread throughout the house. It was loud and chaotic and wonderful. He felt the sense of belonging and understood why his son loved this pack, this family, so much and made it his own, beside himself.

The Sheriff stayed throughout the day, until the members of the Fletcher pack bid their farewell. New friendships had been formed and the bond between the packs had been solidified. Stiles felt more at ease now, about his decision to go to San Francisco to college, he had friends there now. When their cars vanished around the corner of the dirt road he turned into his mate attaching his lips firmly to the older man's in a loving kiss. Derek responded in encircling the teen’s waist, leaning back lifting him off the ground. Almost immediately Stiles' legs came up around the alpha's waist. Derek chuckled into the kiss and lay their foreheads against each other’s, when their lips parted.  
"What's funny?"  
"Nothing..." The older man breathed. "You're just clingy."  
"So? I always was."  
"You have to walk yourself, some time."  
"I know. Just not right now." He smiled and captured Derek's lips again.  
"Kids, I'm leaving for today. Gotta catch up on some sleep."  
Stiles turned his head to look at his father. "You do that. You didn't have to stay all day."  
"I know, but I wanted to. It was nice meeting others."  
"You didn't get bored?"  
"No, I had some lovely conversations with Jason."  
The alpha pair laughed. "The one person who barely speaks."  
"He's a cute kid. I also talked to Connor and Katharine."  
"Go home, dad. Get some rest."  
"You have a good evening. You wanna come to dinner tomorrow?"  
"Sure. Just us?"  
"No, all of you."  
"You know, they eat a lot, right?" Stiles chuckled softly.  
"I'm aware. But I don't want the rest of the pack starving."  
"They can cook themselves, you know."  
The sheriff looked at the couple lovingly. "It's nice seeing you together."  
The teen jumped off his mate and hugged his father tightly.  
"Hey kiddo, what is it?"  
He shook his head against the older man's shoulder. "Thank you, dad." He whispered the words and left his father's embrace to jump on Derek again, molding himself around his body, burying his face in his shoulder.  
"See you tomorrow." The alpha offered with a small smile.  
"Yeah." The sheriff shook his head lightly, while he got to his car. The whole werewolf thing had made his son weird, or weirder than he already was. Maybe it was just the one werewolf that had taken his heart.


	8. Chapter 8

The pack had nodded enthusiastically, when Stiles had asked if they all wanted to come to dinner to his house the next day and he could have sworn, if they had any, they would have wagged their bodies with their tails in zeal. So they all came one by one after school. Stiles was already in the kitchen cooking with his father when Derek arrived.  
"Can I do something?"  
"Yes." His mate beamed at him got a beer out of the fridge, which he handed to him. "Sit on the counter and look pretty."  
The alpha grumbled a little at being called pretty, but obliged none the less. Every other minute Stiles leaned up to his face and kissed him. Short but sweet. He looked at the older man for a moment, but the cop just shrugged and went on puttering in his corner of the kitchen. After he put the casserole in the oven to bake the teen stood himself between Derek's legs and pulled him into a long slow kiss.  
"You ever gonna get over your honeymoon phase?" Scott asked waltzing into the room with a slightly disgusted look on his face.  
"No." His best friend answered against the older man's lips and reattached them in another kiss.  
"Come on." The next exasperated interruption was Peter, entering through the back door.  
Stiles ended the kiss abruptly with a wet smack. "Dude, my house. Creep somewhere else."  
"I was promised food."  
"By who?" The boy furrowed his brows.  
"Your father."  
"Of course he did." All the while he had kept tracing random patterns on the small of Derek's back under his shirt. "Hey dad, creeper is here." He yelled towards the dining room.  
The sheriff reentered the kitchen. "Who?" He asked just in time to hear Peter's snarl, Derek's answering growl and Stiles' chuckle, along with a lot of flashy eyes.  
"Seriously, you all need to work on your manners. And why are you calling him creeper?"  
"Because he is creepy as hell. You haven't picked up on that yet?"  
"Cut it out anyway." He lightly shook his head at his son. "I know you took a lot of him on, but I raised you better than this. You don't just insult people."  
"He's not people. He's getting better, but he's still a psycho."  
"Easy Stiles." Derek gently nudged the side of his face with his own.  
The betas cautiously piled into the doorway, after they had heard the raised voice and distress of their pack mom. The rage just rolled off of him. Derek whispered soothingly into his ear, trying to calm his mate. He went down to press his lips to Stiles' pulse on the side of his neck. The teen had completely tensed up, but closed his eyes, when the older man's lips touched his skin and he felt the hum transmitted through the connection.  
Peter shooed the young werewolves out and nodded to the sheriff to follow as well. He was aware that he had set Stiles off, but wasn't exactly sure how, since he hadn't done anything other than spread his usual sass and sarcasm, which the young alpha mate usually met with equally snide sarcasm. Not with rage. Equally unusual was that his nephew was a rock and didn't indulge the anger.  
The alpha elongated his fangs and scraped them along the firm muscle leading from Stiles' neck to his shoulder, leaving thin blood trails. He licked the blood up, when he moved back to his mate's neck. He placed another kiss above the teen's artery, before he straightened his back to look into the eyes of the younger man.  
"Better?" Derek searched his mate's eyes.  
He received a curt nod in response. The werewolf was surprised, when tears filled Stiles' eyes and silently rolled down his cheeks. Again he licked the liquid away. Suddenly the boy narrowed his eyes, angry at his own tears, angry at the lack of control, angry that everyone saw it, especially his father, angry that he let his still new animal nature seep through, angry at Derek, that he was so calm about it. So angry that he wanted to punch the man, who still looked at him unwavering with this stoic expression, who wasn't angry in return, who was always there, when he needed him, who put him first above anything else, who loved him...  
The man who loved him, his mate.  
The man he loved with an intensity it threatened to crush him.  
The man he loved and didn't know how to live without anymore.  
The man he loved and was going to leave in the fall.  
The man he loved and who was looking at him like he was everything to him.  
Pale eyes searched his face for a reason, any reason, why he was freaking out right now, losing it so fundamentally he couldn't stop and was on the verge of a panic attack. Slowly he remembered, what Peter had dropped in passing a week ago, what Derek had done freely, without noticing at first, that he, the human, needed to anchor himself to Derek as well. He who didn't shift, he who had limited everything, but still took it willingly, the advancements, the benefits of being an alpha mate. He who had taken a lot of his mate's abilities and of his personality, too. He who wasn't an animal by nature, but had taken on the ferocity that ruled their lives and now needed to anchor himself down, just the same.  
Stiles Stilinski cupped his alpha's face and kissed him deeply, hungry, needy. He kissed him with desperation, searching for the feeling he could tie himself to, the one feeling that bound him to Derek, the feeling that could be his anchor.  
Startled his eyes snapped open, glowing alpha red and his lips stilled on the older man's. It wasn't one feeling, it was all of them, all of which made them them, together. He leaned back a little, his thumbs stroking over the prominent cheek bones.  
"I found it." He breathed, brushing their lips together briefly.  
The alpha furrowed his eyebrows questioningly.  
"My anchor."  
The brilliant smile Derek loved so much was right back where it belonged and he smiled back softly. The wolf's hands had been idle on his thighs and were now tugging lightly on the hem of Stiles' shirt. He started peppering feather light kisses on all the moles of Stiles' face and his hands slid under the shirt roaming flat over his stomach.  
Peter walked back in cautiously. Slowly making his way to the alphas. Derek stopped what he was doing to look at him, at least the kisses, he didn't remove his hands. Stiles merely turned his head a little for a moment, gazing at his hands on his mate's knees, waiting.  
The beta hesitated, before he rubbed his face gently across the side of Stiles neck. "I'm sorry."  
The teen snorted at the whispered words. "Not your fault. But it's nice to hear you say it."  
A second later all present wolves were huddled close around the alpha pair touching and nuzzling Stiles, Isaac the only one brave enough to nuzzle Derek's neck. The alpha leaned into the touch and Stiles kissed his favorite's hair lightly.  
The timer so subtly chose that moment to announce very rudely that their meal was ready to eat and made all the wolves including Stiles flinch violently. The sheriff, who was still standing in the doorway, couldn't help but chuckle, at the collective simultaneous movement.  
"I guess dinner is ready." He announced to the startled pack.  
Isaac and Erica gave jerky nods, shaking the stiffness.  
Stiles smiled fondly. "Come on puppies. Food doesn't wait."  
They took everything to the next room leaving the alphas still in the same position.  
"Did you just call me a puppy?" Derek asked incredulously.  
"You see yourself carrying anything?"  
"No."  
"There's your answer. But you ARE putting ideas in my head." Stiles smiled and pecked his lips, before he made a dash for the dining room. The low growl of his mate followed his laughter.  
An hour later Melissa came as well, after her shift had ended. The pack were all sprawled out in the living room watching a movie, not paying attention to much else, other than their lovers and snacks. Stiles passed the hallway into the kitchen, when the sheriff opened the door for the woman and looked over at them. He noticed the soft smile they gave each other and the slight uptick in their heartbeats. He wondered briefly when that had happened. When he came back out of the kitchen he greeted her warmly.  
"Hey Melissa. There's still some food, if you're hungry."  
"Thank you, Stiles."  
She went into the kitchen with his father, while he slipped back onto the couch into Derek's lap with their new soda cans. The older man watched the TV intently and didn't look away, as his mate settled back in. The younger man placed a soft kiss on his cheekbone. At that he turned his head with a smile and captured his lips for a few moments. Despite the early summer warmth they were all snuggled together, at least with their significant others. Isaac, for some reason, had pressed himself into Peter's side and the older man allowed it. Stiles turned his attention to the kitchen and heard John and Melissa talking quietly.  
"That's rude." Derek whispered into his ear.  
Stiles locked eyes with his mate, slowly leaning forward to kiss him. He pressed a few chaste close lipped kisses to the other’s mouth, never breaking eye contact. He let his lips linger on the older man's prominent cheekbone again, before he settled his head against his neck, dosing off moments later. Derek, as usual, let his hands slip under Stiles' shirt, roaming the smooth skin.  
About an hour later the alpha mate stirred, moved his face a little upwards and bit into the tender flesh right above Derek's artery. The alpha had noticed that the teen did that a lot lately, biting him whenever the chance presented itself, leeching onto soft flesh and trying to mark his mate. Derek stopped him, before he could draw blood, which would have been a mess.  
"Hey." He carded both his hands through Stiles' hair and forced him to look up into his eyes.  
The younger man simply kissed him and got up to wander into the kitchen, where his father and his best friend's mother were still talking. He looked between them.  
"Since when?" The boy asked softly.  
His father looked a little guilty and glanced at the woman for a moment.  
"A couple of months." The sheriff answered.  
"After you told him." Melissa McCall specified.  
Stiles let a faint smile wash over his face. "Makes sense..."  
"How?"  
"You didn't have to hide anything anymore. I'm sorry you had to, for so long." The boy stared at a spot on the floor, not meeting their eyes.  
"That has nothing to do with it, son."  
"It doesn't?" He asked bitterly.  
"Stiles, no." The woman came over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back and essentially rubbed his scent all over her, all the while inhaling her scent deeply and the barely there traces of his father on her.  
"Has anyone else noticed?" His father asked cautiously, meaning Scott.  
"No." He felt Derek coming up behind him. "Except him of course." He grinned at the couple and leant backwards into the older man's chest.  
"You did?" John asked.  
The alpha answered with a noncommittal shrug, brushing the right side of his face through Stiles' hair. "I notice things."  
"Very small things. Don't worry about it. Can Derek stay the night?"  
"Of course. Not that you have to ask."  
"Just making sure, dad. Melissa can stay, too." He grinned again.  
"Not that I have to ask."  
"Well...no."  
"You coming back?" Derek purred into his mate's ear.  
"Yeah. Just need to get more chips."  
"You ever stop eating?"  
"You should know the answer to that question by now, honey. And they are not just for me, the puppies never stop eating either."  
"Valid point."  
"I'm happy for you, dad."  
"Thank you, son."  
Stiles grabbed the bag from the cupboard and dragged his lover back to the living room. He had always thought it could be a possibility that their single parents could find each other, but thought of it as a long shot. All the more happy it made him, that they had made up their minds. He curled back into his mate on the couch, completely immersed in the warmth of the older man's body.  
He kicked the puppies out at midnight, all of them leaving without protest, except Isaac.  
"You okay in the guest room, pup?"  
The shy beta nodded and made his way there. He didn't like to be away from Stiles for long lately. Always keeping close as soon as the alpha wasn't near him, snuggling up to the older boy, nuzzling his neck even more than usual. It wasn't that Stiles and Derek also, hadn't noticed, but neither had had the courage to breach the subject yet and so far it wasn't something that would have to stop.

Melissa had an early shift the next morning and was already dressed in her scrubs when she entered the Stilinski's kitchen to get some coffee, only to find a half naked alpha werewolf leaning casually against the counter, mug of steaming dark liquid already in hand.  
"Mornin'." The man grumbled, barely audible.  
"Good morning, Derek." She replied cheerfully, walking around him, to get her own caffeine fix. "Everything okay?" She was slightly concerned about the young man's tired demeanor.  
He sighed and rubbed his free hand over his face. "I don't sleep well."  
"In general?"  
"Yeah."  
Stiles chose that moment to jump down the stairs two at a time and practically falling into the kitchen and pushing his entire body into Derek's.  
"I told you not to leave me alone in bed." He growled out nipping at his mate's shoulder.  
The alpha had only just saved his coffee from spilling and let his free arm snake around the younger man's waist. "Sorry, babe."  
"Morning Melissa." He turned his head to look at her.  
Both men were only wearing sleep pants and the woman stared at Stiles' tattoo. The same one she had noticed on Derek's back before.  
"Hi. Is topless a werewolf thing?"  
"No." He thought for a second. "Well, maybe. But this..." He let his hand slide up and down Derek's bicep. "...is a me and a touch thing. He's always warm. I like it."  
"Since when do you have the tattoo?" She was curious.  
"A month."  
"Your dad knows about this?"  
"He saw it Sunday, when he came by for breakfast at the mansion."  
"You thought about that?" She asked cautiously.  
Stiles chuckled softly. "I have. For a pretty long while actually. But this is us and nobody can take that away."  
Her gaze flickered to the clock on the wall. "Okay. I have to go. You have a good day."  
"Thanks. You too."  
When Melissa was gone, Derek put his mug aside and cupped Stiles' face forcing him to look into his eyes.  
"I've been meaning to ask you something."  
The teens relaxed happy face fell. "That sounds serious."  
"It's..." The werewolf took a deep breath. "Do you want children?"  
Stiles' expression turned completely baffled. "Where did that come from?"  
"Jason. You are good with children and you seemed so happy taking care of him."  
The human leaned back a little. "First of all, I don't know. I just turned eighteen, I'm going to college in the fall and haven't really thought about something like that. Have you?"  
"Kinda?"  
"Can you elaborate on that for me? I didn't have coffee yet."  
"You looked so at ease with Jason, so natural. I wanted to know."  
"Well, the whole mom thing is growing on me, but I sure as hell am not ready for OUR kids, if there are ever gonna be any."  
"Okay..."  
"And I'm pretty sure our betas will supply us with cubs soon enough."  
"You're probably right about that one."  
Stiles smoothed the raven strands out of Derek's forehead. "We are young, we have time to think about this and I would like to get married first."  
"You...What?" The alpha stared at him wide eyed.  
"I know technically we already are. I'm talking legally here, if there are supposed to be any kids and I think my dad would appreciate an actual ceremony, if we decide on one."  
The alpha sighed heavily, but nodded slowly.  
"Hey, I'm not saying now, just eventually."  
"I think I can get behind that idea."  
"See. All good." Stiles smoothed out the lines on his lover's face with a few gentle strokes and kissed him passionately, until his father walked in.  
"Morning boys."  
"Hey dad."  
"Is it too much to ask, that you put some clothes on?"  
Isaac chose that very moment to enter the kitchen as well, equally shirtless. Stiles just burst out laughing, hiding his face in Derek's neck, who had a big smirk on his face, as the sheriff turned to look at the blond boy.  
"Oh, come on."  
"Hm?" Innocent pup that he was, he was still too tired to have been listening in on anything.  
"You all need to learn how to be decent around other people." He poured himself coffee and left.  
"Sorry, dad." His voice was muffled by Derek's skin and he couldn't resist another snigger.  
"Did I do something?" He looked around confused.  
"No, everything is fine." He finally grabbed Derek's discarded mug and emptied the still warm liquid in two large gulps and removed himself enough from the other body to refill it and breathe in the strong aroma of the steam. "Mhm, your coffee is excellent honey."  
"Gotta wake you up somehow." Derek pecked his cheek. "You going to school today?"  
"Uh, no. I will go over my notes again for tomorrow and relax a little."  
"The last one, right?"  
"Yeah, after that I'm free." Stiles grinned widely.  
"What about you, Isaac?"  
"My last one's Thursday."  
"Any problems?"  
"No, should be fine."  
"Good."  
"Hey, you want to go to Jungle on Friday?" Isaac asked.  
"Sure why not. You wanna come with?" Stiles eyed his mate expectantly.  
"Not really my crowd. Do I have to?"  
"Of course you don't have to, just thought it might be fun going out together."  
"Another time, okay. But call when you had enough and I'll pick you up."  
"Fine. Love you." He kissed Derek gently, who just grumbled a little. He swayed his hips teasingly, while he walked away. "I'm going to shower."  
A very predatory wolfish grin spread across Derek's face and he started to follow his young mate.  
"Should I leave?" Isaac inquired tentatively.  
"Don't be ridiculous, it's just a shower. You got your notes with you, right? And eat something, pup."  
The beta nodded and went for the coffee pot, like the others had before him.  
Derek slipped into the cabin behind Stiles. He hugged him pressing his chest into the younger man's back for a moment and his face into his nape. Stiles took one of his hands and put some shower gel in his palm. The alpha pulled his hand back rubbed his hands together lightly and started massaging his mate's back.  
"Mhmmmm. That's nice."  
"Loosen up babe. Your back is all tense."  
He chuckled low. "When the finals are over and I'm finally out of school. Then you can help me loosen up." He turned with a grin and started roaming his soapy hands over his alphas chest.  
"I'll remind you of that." Derek whispered and kissed him gently.  
"I bet you will. Can you do my hair?"  
"Sure."  
The werewolf took some shampoo and massaged it into Stiles' scalp in soothing circles, light pressure on his fingertips. As he washed the foam out Stiles let his head fall against Derek's sternum, letting the water wash over him, his hands on the wolves hips. Derek finished washing himself and shut the water down. He grabbed the big towel, drying them both. They went back downstairs fully clothed, Isaac sitting at the kitchen bar, munching a bowl of cereal and the sheriff on his way to the door.  
"You boys have a productive day. I'll be back for dinner. Hopefully."  
"Have a good day, dad."  
"Bye."  
"Bye, sheriff." Isaac's farewell was fairly muffled around a mouthful of his breakfast.  
Stiles stepped to the other boy and kissed the side of his head and ruffled his hair gently.  
"You good, puppy?"  
The blonde nodded and slurped the rest of the milk from the bowl.  
"Stiles, I need to run some errands. I'll be back later."  
"Okay."  
"Are you coming to the house tomorrow after your final?"  
"That's the plan."  
The alpha turned to leave, but didn't get far.  
"Derek." The accusing undertone in Stiles voice stopped him in his tracks and look at his mate, who tapped his index finger to his lips. The older man obliged and kissed him soundly.  
"Mom." The young wolf sounded slightly annoyed.  
Stiles chuckled a little and let his mate go.  
"You need help with anything?" He asked when the front door closed.  
"Not right now. I'll take a shower and go over my notes, if I need help, I'll tell you."  
"Okay, I'll be in my room."  
He spend the day going over the topics that would be in his final and clarified a few things for Isaac along the way. Erica and Boyd had come in the late afternoon and his father was punctual for dinner.  
"Is this a regular thing now? I mean all of them here?"  
"No, dad. It's just...I can't exactly tell them to stay away..."  
Erica pressed into his side and nuzzled his shoulder.  
"Oddly enough, it's fine."  
"You sure? They are kind of an invasion once they get comfortable."  
"Mom." Erica let out a stretched whine.  
"You wanna argue with me on that?"  
The female wolf didn't answer, just snuggled further into him, until the front door opened revealing the alpha, which made her dislodge herself from the alpha mate and make her way to her boyfriend. Derek came over reveling in the feeling of Stiles' soft lips for a while before he greeted the rest of the room.  
"What's for dinner?"  
"YOU are unbelievable. See what you invited here dad, all they do is eat." His exasperation had no heat behind it and he squealed, when Derek grabbed him by the waist and hauled him over his shoulder. "Mhm, nice view." Stiles looked down his mate's back at his ass.  
"Really, can you keep comments like that to yourself, when I'm around?"  
"Sure, dad."  
Derek let him slide down his front until he stood on his own feet again, holding him close.  
"Sorry." Derek grinned at the older man. "But I'm serious about the food. I can smell a lot of goodies."  
"We were about to sit down. So yes, there is food."  
The alpha started nibbling at his neck.  
"That's nice, but I'm not on the menu."  
"Come on kids, food's getting cold."  
After they cleaned up, the alphas were standing in the hall in a tight embrace, kissing passionately, while the betas waited in the car. Stiles dragged the kiss out, clinging to his lover's neck, recapturing his lips every time he had to breathe, after a few seconds.  
"Babe, the puppies are getting antsy." Derek whispered after ten minutes. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay." He brushed his lips over his mate's again.  
"Yeah." He rubbed his face against Derek's stubbly cheek and kissed the corner of his eye. "I love you, Sourwolf."  
"You, too." He kissed him one last time and left, before he could rethink his decision.

The next afternoon Derek waited in the school parking lot, leaning against the passenger side door of the Camaro, facing the building. He wasn't sure when the exam would be over or if Stiles would just come out when he was finished, so he closed his eyes behind his sunglasses and enjoyed the sun. He had tuned his surroundings almost completely out and was startled, when someone stopped beside him.  
"Are you waiting for someone?"  
"What?...Yes." He eyed the brunette woman surprised.  
"A teacher?" She unmistakably scanned his body and face and apparently came to the conclusion he was too old to be waiting for a student.  
"Uh, no." He tried a smile, which seemed to be sufficiently friendly, because the young woman relaxed visibly.  
"A student then?"  
"Yeah, last final, ever." He kept smiling, which kinda started to hurt his face, because it wasn't natural. He pleaded internally that Stiles would save him soon and was rewarded with the doors swinging open and revealing the slender frame of his mate.  
"A graduate, that's nice. A relative?"  
Nosy much? "No."

Stiles came out the doors and froze, when he saw Derek chatting with a young woman. Smiling at her. At a closer look, he recognized her as a teacher, but none that he had had in class. He steeled himself and walked towards them as normally as possible. He knew Derek could probably sense his uneasiness by now, but the older man still looked like he was into the conversation he was having, right until Stiles was only a few yards away and realized it was a fake smile that was plastered on his mate's features.  
"Hey." He greeted Derek with a grin.  
Immediately the smile vanished and was replaced by a neutral but warm expression. "Hi."  
"Thanks for keeping him company. Miss Blake, right?" And to Derek. "I hope you didn't wait too long."  
"Um, yeah. Mr. Stilinski, is it?"  
"That's me." He grinned winningly and slipped his hand into Derek's to entwine their fingers. "There a problem?"  
"No, not at all. I was just asking Mr. ...."  
"Hale."  
"Mr. Hale, if he was here to pick someone up."  
"He is. Why is he? I thought I was coming to the house?"  
"I wanted to surprise you and maybe make a little detour." The smile he gave the younger man barely curled up the corners of his mouth, but it was there.  
"Sounds scandalous, let's go."  
"Where's your Jeep?"  
"My dad dropped me off."  
"How were you gonna get to my place?"  
"Yes, I see the error of my ways. I would have walked."  
"That's ten miles."  
"Much shorter through the woods and I would have probably chosen a speedier pace."  
The alpha shook his head lightly, with an amused grin on his face. "Get in before I decide to leave you here and time you."  
"Mean." Stiles slapped his arm and got in.  
Derek chuckled. "Bye." He said to the teacher and rounded the car.  
Miss Blake just smiled and started to walk towards the building, but turned to look at the handsome man again. She saw his hand on the back of the student’s head obviously kissing him and walked a little faster away.

"I was a little worried there for a minute, when I saw you smiling at her..." Stiles admitted quietly.  
His mate sighed. "You said I should work on my social skills, so I talked to her."  
"You were smiling." He glanced at the older man.  
"And it hurt my face, how can you be so nice to everybody?"  
"I'm not."  
"You always smile."  
"Because it's easier, than scaring people." He stroked the back of his fingers across Derek's cheek.  
"For you."  
"Yes. For me it's easier making people believe that I am fine, even when I'm not."  
"Do you do that with me, too?"  
How did this become so serious all of a sudden. "No. Never." Stiles caressed his nape gently, while he kept staring straight ahead on the road. "I don't have to. You wouldn't believe me, if I tried, anyway."  
"What about me?"  
"Scaring away women who are trying to flirt with you with your pretty face is perfectly acceptable, because I don't like it."  
The werewolf snorted.  
"In general you should always remain your sweet broody Sourwolf self, just try to be a little less scary, when it matters."  
"Like when?"  
"Prom?" Stiles replied innocently.  
"What?"  
"You know, end of school dance thing, where you usually bring a date."  
"Did you just ask me to go to your senior prom with you?"  
"Maybe...?" He glanced at his lover hopefully.  
Derek sighed. "Stiles, I didn't even go to my own prom."  
"Is that a reason not to accompany me to mine?"  
"Can I think about it?" He took the hand from his neck and guided it to his mouth to kiss. "Please?"  
"Sure." He was silent for a moment. "Where are we going?"  
They were headed out of town. "The mall."  
"Why?"  
"You'll see."

Derek led him past the storefronts, never letting go of the younger man's hand, until they stood in front of the display window of a jeweler. Stiles stared at the beautiful gems, necklaces, rings, watches, but he didn't catch on.  
"Wh...?" He didn't even know what question to ask.  
The alpha pulled him inside towards the display with the wedding bands and the teen gasped. He stood half behind him, with a reassuring hand on the small of Stiles' back.  
"We're just looking." Derek whispered into his ear. "I want your opinion."  
The alpha didn't move away, so when his mate turned his head, his lips graced his cheek.  
"Are you proposing to me?" He kept his voice low as well.  
"Not exactly?"  
The question mark at the end of that statement was just a little disconcerting to Stiles.  
"Excuse me?"  
"Since we are already mated, it would be kind of a formality and you said you wanted it eventually."  
"Uhm, yeah."  
"So why wait."  
"Oh, I don't know, because my father is going to kill you. No big surprises, remember?"  
"It's..." He let his eyes roam the room for a second. "We can wait."  
Stiles directed his gaze back to the display case. He let his right hand slip behind his back under Derek's and entwined their fingers. He stayed with a pair of wide titanium bands, he liked the shine of the dark metal.  
"Can I help you with something?" A smiling clerk addressed them.  
"Can I see these?" The teen smiled right back.  
"Of course." The man looked at them a little weird, but showed them the rings.  
Stiles took the larger one and slipped it on his ring finger. It fit perfectly and the shiny surface with beveled edges looked good on his hand.  
"What do you think?" He looked at the older man beside him.  
Derek had his signature scowl on his face, but more to the account of the clerk’s reaction to them, than the ring currently on his mate's finger. "Mhm."  
"Are these for you two?"  
"Yes, well, not sure if it's happening yet."  
"Would you like to see something else?"  
Stiles glanced at Derek, who still stared at his hand intently. He took the ring off and put it on his mate's finger, where it sat a little too tightly. He turned the alpha's hand this way and that to see how it looked on the other's hand and smiled.  
"I don't think we have to." He removed the ring again gently. "What about engravings on the inside?"  
"Can be done within a week."  
"That's fine, we are not in a hurry."  
"What would you like to have engraved?"  
Stiles took his necklace out from under his shirt. "Three of these, evenly spaced, in between the others first name..."  
"I actually get your first name?"  
"No honey, you get the usual." Back to the clerk. "Sorry, you got a pen and paper?"  
"Yes, of course."  
The teen quickly drew the triskeles in a circle and wrote his name and Derek's between two of the symbols. He looked at his mate again to see his reaction and was pleased to see him nod, before he smiled at the clerk again.  
"You can call here, when they are done." He wrote down the number and his last name on the paper.  
"Very well." The clerk quickly took their correct ring sizes and they were on their way.

"May I ask what brought this on?" Stiles pulled his lover to the side, so they wouldn't stand in the way.  
Derek scanned the vicinity for a moment, contemplating how he should word the feeling.  
"I want you to be save."  
Stiles cocked his head in confusion.  
"In every way possible." He didn't want it to sound clinical. "If anything ever happened to me."  
"DEREK!" Stiles took half a step back. He was shocked.  
The werewolf pressed his palms over his eyes. "I want to marry you for all the right reasons, I just don't know how..." He was desperate and tears welled in his eyes.  
"I know." The human cupped his face and kissed his eyes, willing the unshed tears away and then hugged his mate tightly. Derek molded into his body and nuzzled his neck. They both registered the clicking noise of a camera and Stiles looked up, to see Lydia watching them fondly, cell phone in hand.  
"You are deleting that." The boy told her.  
"I will not, it's cute." With those words she sent the picture to the whole pack.  
"You didn't."  
"Of course I did, everyone needs to know how cute you two are, when you think no one's watching."  
"As if they didn't see us enough like this." Stiles stated, with Derek firmly plastered to his front and nuzzling his neck.  
"What are you doing here anyway?"  
"What is one doing in a mall..." He let his gaze wander around and back to the girl. "I don't know."  
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Not the two of you. And he certainly isn't like THAT in public."  
"Good point. You wanna let go honey? We can do the whole invading of personal space thing at home."  
The werewolf stood up straight and turned towards the girl, but left one arm around the younger man's shoulders.  
"You still haven't answered me." Sharp as ever and immune to Stiles' distractions.  
"Shopping, just like you." He smiled at her.  
"If you say so. You done with your finals?"  
"Yeah, today was the last one. You?"  
"Monday, should be a breeze."  
"I expect nothing less. Are you coming Saturday?"  
"I'll be there. Now gotta get some shopping done. Bye, boys."  
"See you, Lydia." Derek nodded and smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

They didn't do much once they got home. Isaac was reviewing his notes for his final and went to bed early. The alphas were quietly talking half the night about nothing in particular. Snuggled together on the porch, they only went to their room, when Stiles finally couldn't keep his eyes open around four in the morning. Derek carried him. On his way up the stairs Stiles already nuzzled into him and with a sigh fell asleep. The werewolf arranged them in the covers and pillows and followed his mate into unconsciousness minutes later, but woke only a few hours later, as the sun filtered through the curtains. Derek remained curled around his mate, for a few hours more, but did get up at noon, leaving the teen, still fast asleep, despite the rising temperature in the room. Stiles finally came downstairs close to three in the afternoon, ruffled, sleepy and rubbing his eyes. He mumbled a greeting and lay right back down on the couch with his head in Derek's lap.  
"Didn't you just get up?" The alpha carded his fingers through his hair.  
"I'm up." He rolled onto his back to look up at the older man. "See, eyes open."  
"When are we gonna tell your dad?"  
"I think it's safer, if I tell him alone. This time he might actually be inclined to shoot you."  
"Fine. What about the pack?"  
"Saturday, when they are all here."  
"Okay." He leaned down to kiss his mate's soft lips. "You didn't answer my 'when' question in regards to your father."  
"Tonight. Gotta feed him." He smiled lazily up into his lovers frowning face. He lifted his hand to smooth out the lines between his eyebrows and then continued to stroke his face, tracing the lines of his features. He was mesmerized by his own slow movements, following his slender fingers with his eyes.  
"You gonna come by tomorrow?"  
"I actually have some things to take care of tomorrow, mostly house stuff and I'm meeting Isaac and Danny at Jungle at ten, sooo..."  
"No me time tomorrow?" Big bad alpha was actually pouting.  
"Sorry honey, you got me the whole weekend, though."  
"When is your prom?"  
"Friday in two weeks. Why? Have you decided?"  
"I don't think I can leave you hanging there, as if you couldn't find a date." He looked a little guilty.  
"Thank you. You won't regret it." Stiles grinned up at him.  
"I'm pretty sure I will regret going to a dance with a bunch of teenagers, where the punch will most likely be spiked, which will affect pretty much everybody but the pack and I will have to drag you home in the early morning hours."  
"Don't be such a Sourwolf, it'll be fun."  
Stiles pushed himself up to catch Derek's lips in a dazzling kiss, which was interrupted a few minutes later, when Isaac burst into the house.  
"I'm DONE."  
Stiles chuckled when they abruptly broke the kiss. "That's nice, puppy."  
The young werewolf let himself slide down the back of the couch half on top of Stiles and his head came to a rest on his alpha's side. He squinted suddenly, when he noticed Stiles' sleep attire.  
"Did you just get up?" The blond asked incredulously.  
"'bout an hour ago."  
"Lazy." He poked the human into his side.  
"Hey, we went to bed at four, so shut up." He tickled the beta, who curled up to protect the sensitive areas and jumped over the older boy off the couch, when that didn't help. Not long after that, he had asked Derek for a ride home, which the older man gladly gave him, continuing to the grocery store.

"Dad, I'm home." He wandered into the kitchen where he heard his father.  
"Hi Stiles." The sheriff eyed him seriously.  
"Dad?"  
"I was at the school today."  
"Why?" He stretched the word out. "I wasn't even at school today and I won't be until prom, because I'm all done."  
"I'm aware of that, despite the fact that I barely see you anymore. None the less I got a call today to appear for a conversation. Guess what that was about?"  
"I honestly have no idea."  
"A Miss Blake had some concerns about your boyfriend."  
"For one, I'm eighteen."  
"I told her that, not that she just could have looked that up, since she is a teacher."  
"And two, she tried very awkwardly to flirt with Derek, while he was waiting for me."  
John shook his head. "Anyway, I evened it out." He pointed at the kitchen island. "You have mail."  
"I..." He froze when he recognized the Stanford logo. "Is that...?"  
"I expect it to be. You wanna open it?"  
The teen took a few deep breaths to steady himself, before a slightly shaky hand reached for the envelope. He turned it a few times and opened it hastily. His face fell in disbelieve.  
"Stiles?"  
"I got in." He whispered breathless and looked up into his father's eyes. "I got in." He repeated.  
"Congratulations, son." He wrapped his arms around his still stunned kid in a tight hug.  
The contact helped to ground him. After a good five minutes he sighed and stepped out of the embrace to look at his father.  
"Since you are in a fairly good mood, I have some more news."  
"Now you're scaring me. Good or bad?"  
"Good, definitely good."  
"Still scared over here."  
"Derek kinda proposed..."  
"Kinda?" His father asked exasperated.  
"Doesn't matter, we're getting married, before I go to college."  
"You WHAT?" Now he was angry.  
"Calm down, dad. It's not good for your blood pressure."  
The sheriff took a deep breath. "Stiles."  
"What, dad?"  
"Don't you think you are rushing into this?"  
"No...Yes."  
"Have you even thought about this?"  
"No, I just picked out our wedding bands." He was serious.  
"Rushing?" The sheriff spread his arms in a helpless motion.  
"I know." His eyes jerked to the doorway, where Melissa had just appeared and he hadn't noticed her coming into the house. "Hey Melissa."  
"Did I hear you correctly?"  
"If you are referring to my wedding, then yes."  
The woman moved toward the older man and pecked his lips in greeting. "That's wonderful, Stiles." A glance at the sheriff told her otherwise. "Why isn't it?"  
"He's eighteen."  
"I'm aware and that means legally, he can do whatever he wants."  
"Thanks for the support, Melissa. But for this discussion entirely beside the point."  
"What was the problem, then?" She was a little confused.  
"They've been together less than a year."  
"There is never gonna be anybody else for either of us, dad."  
"You mentioned something like that on your birthday."  
"Yes, dad. We are mated, bonded for life. There is no getting out."  
John rubbed his hand over his face and looked at Melissa.  
"It's a little sudden, but I understand the why."  
"Really, because I don't."  
"Yes, dad, I thought we would do this eventually, too and not now. But now I'm leaving for college." He waved the acceptance letter in front of his father. "And now we need this to be legal."  
"How is that a pressing issue? You can still do that when you graduate college."  
"Honestly, I don't know." Stiles sounded defeated all of a sudden.  
"Excuse me?"  
"I have no idea, what brought this on, but I sure as hell won't say no. So you might as well get on board with the fact, that your only son is getting married in the very near future."  
The older man sighed heavily and Scott's mother took the piece of paper from his hand. She gaped a little in wonder. "You got into Stanford." She hugged the boy and he hugged her back.  
Stiles smiled gently.  
"Have you told anybody yet?"  
"I just opened the letter and used dad's happiness to share my other good news. I'm gonna tell the pack on Saturday."  
"You pick a date yet?"  
"No. Prom is in two weeks and I barely got Derek to commit to that. There is an alpha thing coming up a week later, where we're going to be in Chicago for a few days. After that we have about a month and a half, until I have to check into the dorm at Stanford. Then orientation and the start of the lectures."  
"So not exactly that many options."  
"No. While we are at timing, you two plan on telling Scott soon?"  
"Uhm, he hasn't picked up on that yet?" His father squinted.  
"He is kind of oblivious to these kinds of things."  
"That's true." Melissa supplied.  
"It took him six months to stumble upon my relationship with Derek."  
"Like I did?"  
"No and I'm still sorry about that, we wanted to tell you once I was legal. Scott accidentally stubbed his nose on it, incidentally, same morning, you found us."  
"Great."  
"Back to my original question. You might wanna tell him, before you go to my wedding together. As subtly as you eased into this." He gestured between the two parents. "Congratulations on the stealthiness, by the way. You don't want it to blow up in your face, if he finds out by accident. Believe me I've been there."  
"We don't actually want to keep it a secret." Melissa explained.  
"You don't have to explain it to me. Like I said, been there." He smirked. "And I like that you are together, now."  
"Thank you." Melissa McCall smiled affectionately.  
"I need someone to take care of him, when I'm not here." He grinned mischievously.  
"Stiles." The sheriff exclaimed annoyed.  
"Fine, I'll shut up. Still, don't forget to tell Scott." He left them to venture to his room for a bit, before he would cook for them. He went to bed early, to have an early start the next morning, cleaning and tidying the house and his things. He baked muffins for the pack meeting the next day and showered before he was picked up by Danny and Isaac.  
They had a good time dancing, all three of them together and when the couple danced with each other Stiles danced alone for a while. He got thirsty and went for the bar. Before he could raise the bartender a young man approached him and offered him a drink. The teen grinned and accepted the beverage. They chatted for a while, until Stiles started to feel strange. The club was suddenly too warm and the air stuffy.  
"Excuse me." He left the other man and made his way outside, past Isaac. "Hey puppy, I'll be outside for a bit." He was a few yards away from the beta, but the werewolf momentarily concentrated his senses on his pseudo-mom and sent a quick concerned text to his alpha.  
Stiles Stilinski stood in the alley beside the large industrial building, thoroughly enjoying the cool night air and pale light of the full moon. It felt cleansing. His legs were a little unsteady, so he stepped back until his shoulders connected with the brick wall of the building.  
"There you are."  
Stiles' eyes shifted to the young man coming towards him, who unceremoniously crowded him against the wall, letting his knee slide in between Stiles' legs, while he got even closer.  
"What do you think you are doing?" The words were slightly slurred and Stiles frowned as to why.  
"To claim my price."  
"What?"  
"You, of course."  
The teen suddenly started laughing maniacally, letting his head rest against the brick. The thigh lightly pressed against his crotch was doing nothing for him, except maybe help holding him upright. It took him a few minutes to catch his breath. This was weird on so many levels.  
"Sorry, you're not my type."  
"Oh yeah? What is then?"  
He diverted his gaze to the side for a moment. When he looked back the moonlight put a strange silver gleam in his eyes. "Tall, dark and broody over there." He tilted his head to the side.  
Sure enough Derek was standing in the entrance to the alleyway looking menacingly.  
"What are you doing Stiles?"  
"Feeling a little loopy." His head was getting clearer again, but something was still weird.  
"Getting yourself drugged." His voice was harsh.  
"That's what this is?" Now it clicked and he directed his returning clarity towards the man in front of him. "That why I'm your PRICE." He hissed the last word. With the accusation Stiles' right hand came up to the taller man's throat, clamping down. The man's eyes grew wide and only now did he realize that he was even bulkier than the alpha, when he detached him from his own body.  
"You better run." Stiles whispered sweetly, before letting go.  
As his attacker vanished, he sagged back against the wall and his mate came closer, eyes ablaze.  
"What were you thinking?" He growled out. "Letting someone drug you, no doubt he gave you a drink you didn't see the bartender make. Am I right?" He didn't wait for a response. "How can you be so careless?" Derek was furious.  
Stiles had the presence of mind to suppress the laughter that bubbled up in his throat anew.  
"When will I ever have the chance again to be careless, huh?"  
Now the dark haired man looked dumbfounded.  
"I am graduating high school, I'm eighteen years old and I'm leaving for Stanford in a few months. Oh yes, don't forget I'm getting married." He was yelling at the older man. "So tell me, when will I ever have the chance again to be irresponsible." He wasn't really asking, but succeeded fully in riling his mate up.  
"He could have hurt you." Derek yelled right back. He didn't let his mind go to rape.  
"Now you are worried? Really? This wouldn't have happened if you had just come with me."  
Their shouting match was rudely interrupted by five young men, that appeared in the alley, coming towards them. At first they didn't notice them, too busy yelling at each other.  
"So this is my fault?"  
Stiles didn't get to answer. He saw the intruders that had come way too close, without being noticed.  
"If it isn't the little fag." The apparent leader spat out amused.  
Stiles was slightly confused, until he recognized his former attacker. Derek had jerked around as well.  
"Is that...?" He formed a deep frown.  
"Didn't I kick your ass already?" Stiles was all out of sarcasm for the night, still half drugged and having a serious argument with his mate, which was interrupted.  
"No."  
"Oh, good. Then you can be on your way getting your ass kicked someplace else, because I have my own problems, I don't need yours." He was already turning to his lover again.  
"HEY."  
"What? What do you want?"  
"Your ass."  
Okay, maybe he wasn't out of sarcasm and he barely contained his laughter. "Sorry, that's his." He pointed at Derek, who merely rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. "By the way, very poor choice of words."  
The five younger boys looked baffled, which turned into anger.  
"Apologize." The leader demanded.  
"For what? Your stupidity?" Stiles looked incredulous.  
The alpha leaned back against the brick wall. "Go on, get it out of your system, I'm not taking you home like this." He said disinterested, looking for non-existent dirt under his finger nails.  
"What, your boyfriend isn't gonna help you?"  
"Hell no. He's pissed. He'd just kill you and bury you in the woods." A calculating smile spread across Stiles' face.  
They looked a little shocked. None the less two of them came at Stiles, which he evaded easily and which angered them further. The other two were next and one of them actually landed a hit to his jaw, which earned him a broken rib and a bruised kidney, while the other one got a concussion, from being thrown against the wall beside Derek. The first two came at him again, while their leader went over to the alpha. He looked up with his wolfish grin, way too many teeth and the hint of sharp canines.  
"You sure, you wanna do this?"  
Stiles had dealt with the two idiots and came up behind their leader unnoticed. He let his hand slide around the younger boy’s throat from behind and squeezed.  
"Control, Stiles." The alpha warned. It was the full moon and the human alpha mate felt the pull too, that heightened his senses and woke his adopted animal side all the same. The only difference was, that he hadn't mastered his control in emotional situations on a full moon yet. So right now red eyes glowed over the shoulder of Stiles' attacker at Derek. But by now, the boy in Stiles' clasp looked positively terrified, wide eyes staring at the werewolf.  
"Stiles." The alpha tried again. His mate blinked and the red vanished from his amber irises. Stiles thought for a moment and catapulted the body to the side as if it weighed nothing, where it remained laying groaning.  
"So this is my fault?" Derek asked quietly. "All of it?"  
"YES." He screamed the word in the older man's face, his eyes crimson again.  
The alpha answered in the same fashion, all red eyes, fangs and growly screaming. "Am I forcing this on you? Am I asking too much? Then tell me. Tell me, that you are not ready, that you can't do this."  
"Why are you doing this to me?" Still screaming, but he sounded desperate now.  
"What? What am I doing to you?"  
"This!" He pointed at himself. "You made me this and now I'm hurting people."  
His lover looked shocked.  
"I'm angry and aggressive and cold."  
Derek's face fell.  
"I enjoyed that." He motioned vaguely at the groaning bodies around them. "I would have never been okay with willingly hurting anybody before."  
"Stiles..." He whispered his name. All anger had vanished. He knew that his animal side had affected his mate, taken over part of him, had even taken away some trades that the wolf deemed weak.  
"NO!" One last shout and the teen deflated, as if all energy had left him.  
The alpha didn't wait, he grabbed Stiles' bicep and dragged him to his car, where he manhandled him inside. A few people eyed them suspiciously, but no one said anything. Derek sent a quick text to Isaac, just in case he hadn't heard their argument over the loud music, that he had taken Stiles home. He had barely started the car, when his mate slumped against the door and dosed off, completely exhausted. They were halfway through town, when Derek noticed, that the younger man mumbled something. The third time was coherent enough, that he understood the word 'muffins'. It took him only a few seconds to figure, his mate had probably baked for the next day, so he detoured to the Stilinski residence, to retrieve the small cakes and leave a note for the sheriff, that his son was already with him. At the mansion, he brought the muffins in first to store them in the basement, before he came back and carried Stiles inside. He dropped him on their bed, it had long since stopped being his bed, pulled his mate's clothes off, save his boxers and covered him with the blanket. Derek Hale stood at the foot of the bed and stared at the young man for a while, a deep frown forming on his face. He stripped completely and in turning away. He shifted.

The human came downstairs the next morning at eight. The house was already buzzing with the whole pack there, in the kitchen and the living room, eating and talking. The front door was open to let the cool morning air in. They all had noticed their pack mom and had looked his way, when he froze in the middle of the hall and dropped to his knees. He placed his hands flat on the wooden floor in front of his knees and bowed his head. The other teenagers came closer from both sides of the front hall and froze, when they saw the huge black wolf coming towards the alpha mate. Tears dropped from his eyes and splashed on the floor. The animal snarled viciously at him, bared teeth, tongue lashing in between and Stiles sobbed and stretched one hand towards a gigantic paw. "I'm sorry." He breathed. The pack still stood in shocked silence, with no idea what was happening. The big black beast was still growling low. The betas were all ready to pounce and protect their mom, when Stiles launched himself at the wolf with a desperate sob and buried his hands and face in the thick fur, arms tightly around its neck. The wolf was growling loudly, when Isaac attempted to move forward, fixing him with burning red eyes.  
"Derek?"  
The animal shook the human off, leaving him in the middle of the hall still silently crying. Derek Hale came back a few minutes later fully clothed in jeans and t-shirt. His mate was still on the floor, his torso folded over his legs and arms splayed out front. None of the pack had dared move. The barefoot alpha crouched before Stiles. The anger had left him, after he had run through the woods half the night. He touched his fiancés hand gently. Big golden brown eyes looked up at him and Stiles sobbed anew, as he jumped into Derek's arms, who barely maintained his balance standing up. His mate clung to him, with his legs around his waist and his feet hooked behind his back.  
"I'm so sorry." He whispered into the werewolf's ear.  
Strong arms pressed his slender body into the broad chest of his mate. "I forgive you." He exhaled deeply laying his chin on Stiles' shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment.  
Since Stiles was not available for talking at the moment, it was Scott who found his words first. "What the hell just happened?"  
"I believe they settled something." Lydia stated matter-of-factly, moving past the alphas to the kitchen to refill her coffee mug.  
"Go run the border round." Derek growled at them.  
The werewolves jerked into motion, filing out of the house. Despite their speed, it would take them at least half an hour to get back. Enough time to calm Stiles down. The alpha took him back upstairs, where he gently detached the younger man from his body and ushered him into the bathroom to get cleaned up. He sat the teen down on the edge of the tub and started to stroke over his face with a damp washcloth. His eyes closed.  
"Look at me, Stiles." Now he knelt before his mate.  
Stiles opened his eyes.  
"I need to understand what is going on."  
The human let out a shaky breath.  
"I meant what I said yesterday. Am I asking too much of you?"  
Stiles shook his head. "I'm scared." He reached tentatively for Derek's face. "I am so scared."  
"Why?"  
"I got into Stanford and I'm leaving."  
"I know." The wolf kept his tone neutral.  
"I am so scared." He repeated. "So so scared."  
"Of what?"  
"Leaving you."  
"It's gonna be okay. You'll be too busy to miss me and I'll come visit and you'll be home every other weekend."  
"What if..."  
Derek didn't let him finish. "It'll be fine."  
"How can you be so sure?"  
"Because I'll be there with you." Lydia said from the door.  
Stiles looked up at his friend. She had become so important to him over the last two years. When he had finally gotten over his ridiculous obsession with her and he had started really getting to know her. Though Scott was still his best friend, his brother, the girl, the young woman, had become just as important and he wouldn't want to go to college with anybody else. He leaned forward to kiss Derek's forehead, then stepped past him to hug Lydia.  
"Thank you."  
"And stop crying. It's embarrassing and it doesn't look good on you."  
He huffed out a strangled laugh at that. Derek had stood up as well.  
"You haven't changed your mind about marrying me, right?"  
Lydia's eyes grew wide.  
"No." The word came out forceful and he turned to face his mate.  
"When were you planning on telling us?"  
"Today. I told my father and Melissa on Thursday." He tensed when he realized what he had said.  
"I thought there was something."  
"Please don't tell anyone else, they haven't even told Scott yet."  
"Well, you'd have to shove his face into it, for him to notice otherwise."  
"Correct."  
"Back to the main topic, do you have a date yet?"  
"No, some time August. And no, we don't need some extravagant ceremony. We're going to city hall and have the reception here. Small Lyds."  
"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, the others will be back soon." She turned and left.  
"Stiles." He faced his mate. "Is this still all my fault?"  
Stiles cupped his face and looked deeply into his beautiful eyes. "Yes, you still did this to me."  
His expression turned hard.  
"And made me the happiest I've ever been." He whispered as an afterthought.  
Derek covered the smaller hands with his. "Don't do something stupid like that again. You scared me."  
"I won't. I promise." He pulled the wolf in for a slow loving kiss, marveling the feeling of the light scratch of Derek's stubble and his soft lips. The older man pulled back a little to lay their foreheads together.  
"I love you."  
"I love you too, Derek."

The pack was ecstatic, when they told them about getting married before Stiles went to college, which didn't mean Derek went easy on them with training. Stiles had relaxed with Lydia beside him on the porch swing. He had leaned into her side and laid his head on her shoulder. He had dosed off for a while, until the girl poked his chest gently. Training was over and they would start cooking soon.  
"Did you think about the whole marriage thing?"  
"Are you going to tell me, we're moving too fast as well?"  
"Who else did?"  
"My dad."  
"No, just asking."  
"I didn't. I just said yes."  
"Good answer." She smiled and kissed the top of his head.

All through Sunday Stiles used Derek as a soundboard, while he was reading, to bounce ideas for their wedding off of him. They found the second Saturday in August agreeable to hold the reception, because it would still be warm enough to do everything outside. As the guest list was concerned, there would be the whole pack of course, Stiles' father and Melissa, though a little begrudgingly on the wolf's part, they included Deaton. Derek had left everything from New York behind, never having made close friends there and Stiles didn't have any meaningful friendships outside the pack, which left the discussion of the Fletchers. They had become close and especially the human liked them a lot.  
"Does that mean half the pack is gonna come again? Or is it okay to only invite Connor and Katharine?"  
"Since it is strictly speaking nothing werewolf related, it's okay to only invite them as friends."  
"Brilliant. Not that I didn't like the others, but I don't need a repeat of the Cornelius incident."  
At that his mate growled. Not a memory he wanted to relive, especially, after what happened a few days ago.  
"Sorry. Did I forget anybody important?" He quickly returned to the main subject.  
Derek thought for a moment and looked at the list. "I don't think so. I don't have anybody else. What about extended family on your side?"  
"Not really. My mom's relatives pretty much disappeared after her death. Well, my dad does have a sister, but there is barely any contact, but I'll ask him."  
"Are you sure about only going to city hall?"  
"On my part, yes. Do you want the whole walking down the aisle shebang?"  
"No, I'm fine with city hall and the festivities after."  
"Good. I may be slightly more romantic than you, but that I don't need."  
"I can be romantic." The wolf gave him a pointed look.  
"Yes, your animalistic possessiveness is very endearing." He grinned.  
The alpha shut the book and put it aside, to look at his fiancé. He leaned into the younger man, nosing at his neck, breathing deeply. For once it was Derek who curled himself into Stiles' side.  
"What about witnesses?"  
"Hm? What for?"  
"City hall, Sourwolf." Stiles caressed his face absent-mindedly. "I'm gonna ask my dad."  
The alpha huffed out a breath. "I don't know." He whispered.  
"It's okay, you have time. Food?"  
"Is barbecue okay? We can do that ourselves." His voice sounded small.  
"Are you getting stingy with me?" The human asked amused.  
"No, I..." He lifted his head to eye his mate confused.  
"Honey, I'm joking." He pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, while his hand never stopped stroking.  
"I don't want strangers here." The older man admitted, laying his head back on Stiles' shoulder.  
"It's fine. Cake or cupcakes?"  
"Are you going to make those?"  
"Depends on what flavor we want. We can have a tasting and decide then."  
"'kay. I do love the chocolate banana cupcakes with vanilla cream, you make."  
"Should I just make those or can we also look for alternatives."  
"We can have the tasting, I just like yours." The wolf rubbed his face on his mate's shoulder.  
"So, definitely no cake?"  
"Cupcakes are funny."  
At that Stiles chuckled. "How are they funny?"  
"I don't know, it's cake, but for one person and they always look cute."  
The human pressed another kiss to the others head. "Looking for cupcakes then." He typed the new information into the list on his laptop. He was somewhat glad they were alone in the house, because his ever broody alpha was slightly too snuggly to ever live down, if the betas saw him like this. He let Stiles cuddle up to him all he wanted, but always maintained his leadership and protectiveness, while at this very moment he was utterly childlike. "You are cute too, by the way."  
"No, I'm not." The wolf insisted.  
"Right now, you're as cute as can be."  
"Am not." Came the petulant reply.  
Stiles smiled widely. He put the computer on the armrest and turned into Derek, carding his hand through his hair.  
"What's up with you?"  
"I need to feel you." The werewolf breathed the words, already attacking Stiles' neck.  
"Bed." Stiles said firmly and was promptly picked up and carried there, shedding clothes as they went. The pack had given them hell, when they once hadn't made it upstairs, for having sex in the living room, basically rubbing it in everybody's nose. To keep the peace Stiles had made sure from then on, that they made it upstairs, if only barely on occasion.  
Derek was rough, holding the younger man down, ravishing him, marking him with claws and fangs, shallow, not to leave scars. Stiles though, wasn't gentle either. Human fingernails and teeth left their marks as well, however fast they disappeared. Stiles screamed when he came and Derek followed a few seconds later, collapsing onto his mate. He groaned, still breathing heavily.  
"I needed this." He huffed into Stiles neck.  
"Glad I could be of service." The human said sarcastically.  
The alpha made some content noises, nuzzling into his mate's chest. When their breathing had evened out and their pulses had returned to their normal speed, Derek rolled off him. The boy followed his warmth leaning over him.  
"Now you can return the favor..." He scraped his teeth over the older man's chest and vanished into the bathroom, where he turned the shower on and slipped under it, washing off their little workout. He had just started, when Derek came in behind him and his hands roamed the slender body before him immediately.  
"Not satisfied yet, are we?"  
"Never." The wolf murmured into his ear.  
More often than not, they continued their love making in the shower and delayed cleaning themselves up. Neither of them minded. Derek and his wolf were insatiable and Stiles was an ever horny teenager, with a very hot boyfriend, lover, fiancé, mate, the man he would spent the rest of his life with.

Derek was driving into town the next day to do some shopping, when a siren and lights flared up behind him. He steered the Camaro to the side of the road and turned the engine off. He inspected his mirrors and saw the sheriff exit his car, slowly coming towards him. The werewolf lowered his window and waited until he was beside him and greeted him with a small smile.  
"Was I driving too fast?" He asked cautiously, he wasn't entirely sure, but doubted it.  
"You know damn well, that you weren't, Derek." John answered calmly.  
"Okay."  
"What were you thinking, asking him to marry you?" The older man fixed him with a stern look.  
"I...It was more like asking his opinion on the subject and that turned into 'We are getting married' somehow." He squirmed a little under the scrutiny.  
"Really? You had no intention of actually asking the question?"  
"Well, kind of..."  
"Are you kidding me? You don't 'kind of' ask a barely eighteen year old boy to marry you."  
"It was impulsive, I know that, I just..." He didn't know how to say it.  
"Is that a possession thing?"  
"Kind of..."  
"Derek." The sheriff warned him.  
"Okay. Yes. Wolves are very possessive when it comes to their mates and Stiles is leaving soon and it wasn't enough, so I needed him to agree to marry me, for the whole world to see."  
The older man sighed heavily. "Still not happy about it, but I understand, where you're coming from."  
"Thank you."  
John Stilinski sighed. "You remember, when I told you, no more surprises?"  
"I do."  
"I give up. Just make sure you do tell me."  
"We will." He looked up at the man in uniform. "On that note, have you told Scott about the Melissa thing?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"I'm sorry, it's none of my business."  
"When has my relationship become the Melissa thing?"  
"Sorry, I clearly spent too much time with your son."  
"Clearly." The sheriff answered with a smirk.  
"That particular secret already blew up in our faces with Scott, so..."  
Another sigh. "I know, Stiles told us. Speaking of which, how do you intend to provide for my son?"  
Derek nearly choked on the question.  
"You are going to marry him and as far as I know, you don't have a job."  
"I have money."  
"You're not going to do anything with yourself?" The older man raised an eyebrow.  
"So far I was busy taking care of the pack."  
"They are all going to college, you'll have a lot of time on your hands."  
"I guess."  
"You could always apply at the police academy."  
"Me? Are you serious?" The werewolf was dumfounded.  
"Why not? You're an intelligent young man, you're healthy and you're a human lie detector."  
"I'll think about it." He promised.  
"You do that. Have a good day."  
"Thank you. Bye."


	10. Chapter 10

Since the betas were all done with their exams, Derek had them come to the mansion for a light workout on Thursday. All of them went for a long run through the woods in a moderate tempo, which Stiles could keep up with. About half way through, the human had let himself fall back a little to even out a light twinge in his side. He had fallen back about fifty yards, when he heard leafs rustle behind him, seconds before pain rippled through his body and his voice shrilled through the trees. The pack turned as one, Derek, Isaac and Erica already wolfing out and running to the alpha mate. The rogue omega had run against the wind and so no one had noticed until it was too late. The lone werewolf had tried to make a run for it but the rest of the pack were on him and shredded him immediately.  
"Stiles!" Derek slid to a halt beside the teen.  
"I'm..." His breathing was labored and he tried to look up from his position on his belly.  
The claws had dug deep into his back, scraping from his left shoulder blade down around to his side and ended at the edge of his ribcage. He tried to push himself up, but the alpha kept him down with a firm hand on his lower back.  
"Stay still." He ripped his own shirt off and pressed it over the wounds. He gently rolled his mate on his side to pick him up.  
"What was it?" Stiles choked out.  
"Omega." Derek growled out, starting to move towards his house, fast.  
Scott was already calling his mother, who luckily was at home and came right away. She reached the Hale mansion only minutes after the pack and found Stiles on their bed, on his belly again. Derek had removed his clothes and covered his lower half with a sheet. He had begun to tentatively clean the wounds, when Melissa arrived and took over.  
"The bleeding is already stopping." The alpha informed her.  
"Okay. Hey Stiles, how are you doing?"  
"Other than being mauled by a werewolf, peachy." His voice was weak and his eyes closed.  
"I'm gonna clean this up and bandage it."  
"'kay."  
The nurse instructed Derek to put a pillow under Stiles' injured side to prop him up slightly and lessen the stress on the wound. He flinched every now and then, but was otherwise still.  
"Can I do something?"  
"Just be there, I'm almost done. It's starting to heal isn't it?" The woman looked at the wolf.  
"Yes, but much slower, than with us and it will probably leave scars." He stroked Stiles' hand lightly.  
"Who attacked him?"  
"A stray. The others took care of it."  
Scott's mother didn't press for an actual explanation as to what, taken care of, referred to. She felt it was better she didn't know. Melissa fixed the huge piece of gauze over the wounds and patted Stiles' arm gently.  
"I'm sorry, I can't really give you anything for the pain."  
Stiles sighed. "It's okay, I got the best painkillers right here." He rubbed his thumb over Derek's hand. As soon as he had said that, a few small black veins crawled up his mate's arm. "I'm fine, still running on adrenaline."  
"If you say so. Anything else?"  
"You can stay for dinner if you want, we're all here anyway." Derek offered.  
"I'd like that, thank you." She got up to go downstairs.  
"I'll be right down." Derek told her. "You sure you're okay, for now?"  
"Yeah. It's starting to itch a little, but I can handle it. I expect food soon and call my dad."  
"Done." The alpha kissed his temple and left.  
When he got downstairs Scott, Boyd and Jackson came in, clothes dirty and bloodied.  
"Clean yourselves up, Stiles is settled and I'm making dinner."  
"Hey, honey." The woman greeted her son.  
"Hi, mom. Is he okay?"  
"He will be." She generously ignored the state his clothes were in and turned to the kitchen and Derek, who already got some knives and chopping boards out on the counter. The young man heard a flurry of movement upstairs, where Isaac and Erica crawled into his bed and the other three betas discarded fabric and went into the bathrooms. None of them came back down, when they were finished but also piled into the bed with his mate. He had called the sheriff, who was less than thrilled to hear his son was hurt, but relieved that he would be just fine and said he would be there as soon as possible.

"Hey." Lydia stuck her head into the kitchen next.  
"Hi." Derek didn't know why, but the stubborn intelligent girl had made her way into the pack and had established her place there without him actually approving of it, much like his lover had done in the beginning. By now that meant she was pack and he sort of liked it, not only because she was his mate's best friend beside Scott. "They are all upstairs, dinner is gonna be about 45 minutes."  
"Okay." She smiled and left.

Next came his father in law. Angry and tired from his shift. None the less, he kissed Melissa who hugged him for comfort and to assure him, that Stiles would really be okay.  
"Can I see him?"  
"Of course, he's resting in our bedroom."  
John Stilinski nodded and made his way there. Though he hadn't expected to find a tangle of six other bodies around his son in the large bed, all touching, nuzzling and he was pretty sure he saw Isaac licking at Stiles' neck, when he came in. The alpha mate still lay in his tilted position, with his left side propped up on the pillow. He had almost gasped at the enormous bandage that covered half his back. Despite the wound Stiles looked relaxed in between his pack. He was still getting used to the whole werewolf dynamic and the physical closeness that seemed to be ever present.  
The boy smiled at him, without lifting his head. "Hey, dad."  
"Are you okay?" He whispered.  
"Yeah." His father turned to leave. "Take Scott."  
His friend looked confused, but peeled himself from the pile none the less and left with the older man. With the freed up space Erica huddled even closer and started nosing along the outlines of Stiles' features, breathing and scenting him.

In the kitchen John stood beside Melissa and Scott on the other side of the island, while Derek cleaned the used knives. The beta looked even more confused, than before.  
"Did something happen?" The young werewolf asked cautiously.  
"In a way." His mother answered.  
"What does that mean?"  
"We are together." John supplied.  
The teen blinked furiously trying to make sense of what the sheriff had said.  
"We are in a relationship." Melissa slid her hand above John's.  
Scott had followed the movement with his eyes. "What? What are you saying?"  
"Wow, how dense are you?" Derek interrupted as he put the knives away. "How do you not smell them on each other? Didn't I teach you anything?"  
"No. Yes." He was still too confused.  
"But then again, you didn't catch on to Stiles and me either."  
"I did."  
Derek snorted. "By accident, after six months."  
"How long have you been seeing each other?"  
"A little over two months."  
One floor above them Stiles sighed contentedly.  
A few minutes later Scott was still trying to understand, how their parents had gotten together.  
"Does Stiles know?" He looked between Melissa and John. "Of course he does." He directed an accusing look towards his alpha. Derek had just put the casserole into the oven and stared out the window absentmindedly.  
"Hm?"  
The noise was barely audible.  
"Did you say something?"  
Derek Hale faced them and shook his head. "No. This takes twenty minutes. I'll be upstairs."  
The other three just stared after him, with no idea what had pulled him away suddenly.

"Derek." Stiles had whispered his name almost without making any sound, so even the four wolves almost missed it. They didn't pay it any attention, until their alpha walked in and shooed them out. Stiles was barely conscious, his eyes closed. "Can you shift?" His words were slurred and Derek wasn't sure he had heard him right.  
"Yeah." He removed his clothes and in one fluent movement he landed on the bed in his wolf form. He tugged the pillow away from under Stiles' body and lay down himself. As soon as the human felt the fur against his hand and the short lick across his face, he slid his hand on the wolf's back and with gentle pressure pulled him onto his side, so he lay half beneath him like the pillow before. He placed his hand on his chest between the front legs and buried his face in the thick fur at his neck and sighed.

Melissa had volunteered herself to get the alpha pair for dinner and check on Stiles wound in the process, but let out a small scream, when she saw the boy clutching to...what? She blinked a few times and the 'animal' lifted its head with judgmental eyebrows at the interruption.  
Seconds later the sheriff appeared beside her. "Oh...yeah he does that."  
"Derek?"  
The wolf huffed out a low growl and laid his head back down. The nurse approached the bed cautiously. She lifted a corner of the bandage and was stunned how much better the gashes looked already. They were still gaping, but barely wetting the gauze through the strips of tape holding the edges of the gashes together. She reattached the covering and patted the human's arm.  
"You coming to dinner?" She asked gently.  
"Need to...cuddle more." Stiles breathed out.  
"I'll bring something up for you later, son."  
"...'nks, dad." The words were muffled by the fur he pressed his face into.  
Outside, Melissa McCall stumbled over her hushed words of astonishment and confusion. John ran a calming hand over her back, guiding her downstairs.

Erica giggled at the older woman's wide eyes when she looked at all of them, the others just smiled.  
"Could he always do that?" She pointed upwards.  
"Apparently since their bonding thing." The sheriff explained awkwardly.  
"To tell the truth, we have only known a couple of days as well." Isaac admitted.  
"And damn he was pissed." Jackson spoke without thinking about it, which earned him an immediate jab in the arm from Lydia. "What? He was."  
"Why?" John asked concerned.  
"They had a fight." Isaac said softly in a small voice.  
"About what?"  
"Not sure, but it was bad." Lydia tried to explain. Stiles had told her a little, but she didn't deem it right for her to tell them.  
"How bad?" The sheriff inquired.  
The wolves all glanced upwards for a moment.  
"And we're done talking about this." Scott said matter-of-factly.  
"Huh?" John looked confused.  
The beta pointed up. "Pretty clear statement from the alpha."  
"That's it?"  
"If you really want to know, ask them. We don't mess with the powers that be."  
"Okay. Who's hungry?" He would ask his son. But right now he needed to lighten the mood.

"...n't do 'at." The teen mumbled into the fur. "Hurts."  
Derek turned his head without moving too much and started licking at Stiles face apologetically.  
"S'okay." His arm twitched involuntarily. “Ow.” Instantly his pillow replacement shifted back into a man and worried pale eyes stared at him. Derek lay on his back, with Stiles half draped over him. He stroked his hand over the younger man's arm and started leeching some of the pain away.  
“Best pillow ever.” The teen placed a kiss on his mate's chest in thanks.

After they were finished eating the sheriff loaded a plate with food and was about to bring it to the alphas when Erica stopped him.  
“Let me.” She said sweetly with a smile the man had no way of resisting.  
The young werewolf balanced the plate delicately on one hand and was gone in a whirl of blonde curls. She entered the bedroom silently, placing the food on the nightstand before leaning over Stiles.  
“Mom?”  
“Yeah, pup.”  
She placed a few soft kisses along the side of his face. “Are you okay?”  
“I'll be fine. Just really really tired.”  
"Can you sit up?" Derek asked gently.  
Stiles nodded minutely and pushed himself up braced on the older man's chest and winced slightly, when the movement pulled at his wounds.  
"Thank you, Erica."  
The alpha dismissed his beta and took the plate from the nightstand. He held the fork out with some food on it. Stiles opened his mouth and smiled faintly while chewing.  
"I can feed myself you know."  
"I know. Just let me take care of you."  
"This isn't your fault." He took another bite, enjoying the rich flavors. "This is delicious, where did you learn to cook like that?" He couldn't take his mate moping over something he couldn't have prevented.  
Derek looked up in surprise at the tired but light tone of voice. "From you." He breathed, an attempt on a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.  
"See, I would never leave you, because you need me, just as much as I need you." He touched their lips together for a second. "You keep me safe, you gave me the ability to take care of all of you and myself. I'm healing, by myself. You gave me that." He pecked the older man's lips again. "You gave me this life, this family." He smiled. "I love my life." Stiles whispered the last words, muffled by his lips on Derek's, before he devoted himself to eating the tasty food again. Derek turned back to his wolf form, laying his head in Stiles' lap.  
When the pups tried to come in later that night, after the parents had left, the wolf growled them out again, he needed his mate to himself for the night.

Derek Hale picked up their rings the next day. He knew Stiles had good taste and the rings looked plain but elegant and to him beautiful. After he ensured that if there was something wrong with the size or anything he could bring them for corrections he thanked the clerk and paid.  
Stiles was fast asleep when the alpha entered their room quietly. Luckily no-one else was there, so he sat on the edge and carefully slipped the ring on his mate's finger. He gently turned his hand a few times to see how it looked and was satisfied. He slipped his own on as well and felt his heart swell. The human woke to a serene expression on his fiancé's face, absentmindedly playing with the ring on Stiles' finger.  
"You got them." Stiles smiled hazily, looking at their joined hands and inspected the rings on their ring fingers himself. "Beautiful." He tugged at the werewolf's hand to lean down and meet his lips. The kiss was soft and short. "I love you."  
"I love you, too."


	11. Chapter 11

Come Monday Lydia had Stiles already helping her with some preparations for the prom. Still sore he agreed. He still had the large bandage over his wounds, the gauze keeping them clean and padded. To minimize any strain he held his left arm bent over his stomach and didn't move it. As per Lydia's instructions, he gave orders of what had to be done to the work groups. He sat cross-legged on a table overlooking the making of their prom. He was checking a to-do list around noon when he looked up and a smile spread across his face. He openly leered at the man across the gym.  
"Lyds, lunch." He yelled through the open space, as his mate approached him with a delicious smelling bag in his hand. All the girls and quite a few boys stared at the alpha and followed him with their eyes. Stiles immediately made grabby hands at the bag, but the wolf kept it just out of reach and leant in to kiss him instead, for a sweet short moment.  
"Hey, honey." The teen grinned and made another attempt on the bag, which the wolf didn't cancel this time.  
"Don't be so greedy." He took in the posture the younger man had adopted. "How are you doing?"  
Stiles already picked at the curly fries. "One, I put all my energy into healing, so I need the sustenance and two, I'm good. Doesn't hurt and as you can see, I'm not doing anything straining."  
"Hey, Derek."  
"Lydia. If he leaves anything, there should be something in there for you, too."  
"Thank you. You heard him, take your curly fries and give the bag." She fixed the alpha mate with a stern look and he relinquished it with a pout.  
"We are at yours for dinner tonight."  
"We are?"  
"John sounded like he expected it to be a regular thing from now on."  
"We, you and me?"  
"Nope, all of us."  
"Did he hit his head or something?"  
"I don't think so. Maybe he just wants you around as long as you're still here. Doesn't really matter, he expects all of us there at seven."  
"Alright, we'll be done here by then."  
"Should I come get you?"  
"It's fine, I'll take him." Lydia chipped in.  
"Thank you. Did you make any progress on the list?"  
"That is not by any chance a wedding list, is it?" Lydia looked up from her salad and potato wedges.  
"It is. Well, my aunt and my two cousins should be able to come. Other than that there were no uncertainties, aside from Katharine and Connor. I wanted to give them the invitation next week, when we see them."  
"Where is the meet this time?"  
"Chicago." Stiles answered with an excited grin.  
"Nice. If you need help with your wedding planning, tell me."  
"Most of it we have figured out, but I'll send it to you and you can take a look."  
"Sounds good. Don't worry Derek I'll bring him home in one piece."  
The alpha huffed out a half laugh half growl at the girl. "You better be."  
Stiles caught his chin in his hand. "Hey, I'm not fragile."  
"You are."  
"Not that much." The teen whispered back and pulled him in for a kiss. "Go home Derek, I'll see you tonight."  
"Fine. Bye."  
As soon as the werewolf was out the door a few of the girls, who normally wouldn't even speak to him crowded him and Stiles was glad he sat on a table where they couldn't get too close. The questions came all at once, 'Who is he?', 'How old is he?', 'Is he your boyfriend?'.  
"That would be my husband to be." The girls gasped all at the same time and Stiles couldn't help himself and rolled his eyes. "Lydia." The young woman was still close and with one glance from her the others scattered. "Thank you." She kissed his cheek and went back to her greens. "I think I need some air. That ok?"  
"Sure, don't get lost."  
"Funny." He waved his right hand over his shoulder and then adjusted his left arm over his stomach after he squared his shoulders, to find a comfortable position. He let the warm summer sun tease his pale skin, while he leant against a low wall.  
"Hey Allison." Stiles greeted the girl, when he heard her stop beside him, eyes still closed, enjoying the sunlight.  
"Hi. Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, it's healing fine." He then looked at her. "Scott told you about the wedding?"  
She nodded. "He did. It's sudden, but I'm happy for you."  
Stiles smiled at her brightly. "I want you to come."  
"I'd love to." The hunter looked a little uncertain.  
"Don't worry about Derek, you are still my friend. He has to accept that and Scott would probably threaten not to come, if you were not invited."  
"It still seems like you are rushing things, you've barely been together a year."  
The young man chuckled softly. "You can talk about that to my father." He huffed out a deep breath. "I think nobody was more surprised than I was. We talked about it, but like something that would happen, I don't know, in five or ten years, not any time soon. Talk about poor impulse control of our wolfies." Allison giggled. "I didn't expect it, but still, it felt right and I had no good reason to say no, so why the hell not just do it. It doesn't change anything, except our status in the eyes of the state. I mean we're already mated, there is literally nothing that could part us."  
"Other than death."  
"There's always that. I don't think that would end well for any party involved."  
"What do you mean?"  
"You can't imagine what the bond feels like. His end would be my end and whoever took him from me and vice versa. So you might wanna remind your father and his trigger happy friends of that, next time they get the urge to come after us. I think I made myself pretty clear last time, but you never know." He shrugged and inspected his shoes.  
"I think he got the message last time, no reminding needed." She smiled gently.  
"Good." He looked up at her with an uneasy expression on his features.  
"What is it?"  
"Is it a problem, you hanging out with us?"  
"No more than it always has been, since I'm dating Scott and know about werewolves. Every now and then he tries to show me the light, that they are all monsters and all that crap." She laughed for a moment, which earned her a confused look. "Once when he brought up the monster argument I showed him a picture of Erica and Isaac snuggled up to you and Derek on movie night, he nearly doubled over."  
Stiles grinned. "What happened to the monster lecture?"  
"He grumbled something about still being right and left it at that. I mean, if Derek can tolerate me around the pack, he can manage a few tame wolves."  
"Don't mention that to them."  
"What?"  
"The tame part."  
"But they are." Allison tried.  
"So far from it, you wouldn't believe. They are in control, that's all. You'd be surprised what goes on at the mansion when they get into fights, there is nothing tame about it. Good thing we don't have neighbors." He grinned. "I probably should get back inside, before Lydia sends out a search party." He winced when he got up and adjusted the position of his arm.  
"You sure you're okay?"  
"Yeah, I spent the whole weekend in bed focusing on my healing. I probably would have started snapping at everyone if I had stayed there. So I'm here helping Lydia. I don't think she actually needs me, but I don't mind."  
"Are you even going?"  
"Now what kind of question is that? I would never miss my own prom. The whole pack is going."  
"Even Derek?"  
"Of course my lovely alpha is going with me."  
"How did you get him to do that."  
The alpha mate grinned widely. "I'm awesome."  
"Of course you are." She giggled beside him, while they were walking into the gym.

Lydia walked into the Stilinski residence with Stiles five minutes before seven. The young man was instantly enveloped into a warm embrace by his mate and thoroughly kissed. He didn't even have time to enter the house properly as he barely passed the threshold. Derek had distracted him successfully with his lips, while leeching some of his pain at the same time.  
"That's a nice greeting." The boy said a little breathless, when they parted.  
"Hi." Derek said gently nudging his nose with his own, before they went into the kitchen.  
"How was your day, son?" The sheriff looked up from the pan.  
"Just a little aiding in Lydia's dictatorship. Nothing special."  
"Sounds straining."  
"Not at all. Where are the pups?"  
"On their way." The alpha answered him.  
"Say dad, you serious about making this a weekly pack dinner?"  
"Yes. Why not? I like having all of you around."  
"Okay."  
"What? They are your family, you're marrying him. Derek's going to be my son-in-law, well kinda is already, considering your werewolf marriage thing and if I'm not mistaken the pack is a package deal, so yeah, you're all expected to be here every Monday night. Well we can talk about the day, but the weekly appearance is non-negotiable."  
"It's fine, dad. It'll be good for them."  
"Just them?"  
"Oh, dad." He hugged his father tightly. "All of us."  
"Are we having a family moment?" Melissa asked, as she walked in.  
"Yes." Stiles simply said and pulled her into the hug.  
The woman made a startled noise, but eased into it and stayed there, when the boy went back to his fiancé, to kiss her boyfriend in greeting.  
Stiles melted into Derek's chest, reveling in the warmth and the hard muscles that held him, comforted him. His mate stroked down the uninjured side of his back. The teen just closed his eyes, resting his head against the wolf's shoulder.  
"Are you tired?" John asked a little concerned.  
"No, just need a little warmth."  
"It's not like it's not seventy five degrees outside."  
"Wolf warmth."  
A few minutes later Scott and Jackson came in, closely followed by the rest of the betas. Scott let his hand slide over Stiles arm lightly, where Jackson and the others nuzzled the back of his neck and uninjured shoulder, while he didn't move at all, completely engulfed in his mate's scent and body heat.  
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that." He frowned at the expression of affection of the werewolves.  
"It's hard to explain." Derek smiled faintly and John raised an eyebrow at him. "The need to touch."  
"You two, I sort of get. Them not really."  
"Still a wolf thing, dad. As I explained before, very tactile bunch."  
"I remember."  
"If you keep inviting them over, they might start doing it to you, too."  
"They are not doing it to Derek…"  
"That would be an alpha and a Derek thing. No touching, if you're not allowed."  
"Right, I'll take the same."  
Stiles chuckled into Derek's neck. "We'll see how far you get with that."  
He let out a shaky long breath, raising his hand to Derek's neck to feel the steady thump of his pulse. The alpha held him tighter and dragged his nose through the younger man's hair. He glanced at John over the top of Stiles' head with glowing red eyes without realizing he was doing it. He felt his mate's uneven heartbeat, which unsettled him. Their bond made everything feel stronger. It wasn't that he felt what Stiles felt, his senses were just so in tune with his mate, that he picked up every shift in mood or wellbeing. Every sensation was enhanced.  
The pack could feel the weird waves their alphas gave off and left the kitchen with plates and silver ware. Only the sheriff and the nurse remained, to finish the cooking.  
"Dinner is ready." John said lowly and Derek nodded.  
They only emerged from the kitchen, when the others had already scattered around the living room with their food. Derek and Stiles cuddled up on the last empty armchair with one plate between them. The teen took a bite and in turn fed his lover, while the werewolf traced small circles on his lower back. After they had finished eating Stiles had relaxed so far into his mate that he was barely conscious.  
"I'll bring him to bed." Derek whispered, while the others got ready to watch a movie.

"Is he alright?" John Stilinski asked when Derek came back down.  
"Yes. Healing takes a lot out of him." The alpha took a beer from the fridge.  
"What was the fight about?"  
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Everything and nothing. A lot of things are changing right now and especially Stiles is under a lot of pressure, so the whole thing blew up."  
"The others said you were really angry." The older man said tentatively.  
"We riled each other up. I won't lie, it wasn't pretty."  
"I remember those. But isn't it a little early for you two to get into fights like that?"  
"Wolf instincts don't exactly calm emotional situations down. And Stiles isn't fully in control yet."  
"But he will be?"  
"Yes. The fact that he is healing this fast already is evidence how far he has come."  
"If you say so."  
"I do. Look, I know you worry and I am 90% of the reason for that, but we also keep him safe."  
"I believe you, but you also have to understand how it looks for me. In the last three months, he was sick and he was attacked twice."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Don't do that. Most of it isn't your fault, I know how well my son gets into trouble all by himself."  
"He does."

After the movie had ended Derek had kicked the betas out and followed his mate's example and crawled into his bed. Stiles woke with a sigh, when he felt the warmth radiating from the wolf's body. He breathed deeply, sucking in the scents the older man had brought with him. A small smile tugged at his lips and he turned around and lifted himself up to straddle Derek's hips.  
"What are you doing?" The dark haired man whispered, moving his left hand to Stiles' waist.  
"I can smell you." The teen moved his hips, so his crotch brushed against Derek's and leaned down to catch the others lips in a slow passionate kiss, continuing to grind their hips together.  
The werewolf gasped into his mouth with the sensation. He righted his upper body grabbed tightly at Stiles' hips to cause more friction. This time the younger man gasped and moaned quietly, disturbingly aware that John and Melissa were just down the hall. But he couldn't help himself. He was hot and horny and needed to feel the wolf with his whole body, close and intimate and his mate was never one to deny him his sexual needs, as it would be denying himself. Derek grabbed and stroked at him, always mindful of the wounds, not to hurt him. Stiles hummed low in his throat all the way through, until he came with a cry, muffled by Derek's mouth. Two thrusts later he joined his mate in his ecstasy. A few minutes later Derek pulled out and collapsed them back onto the mattress, where they contentedly fell asleep, after cleaning themselves up.  
"I love you." Stiles breathed out and gave in to sleep.

He woke to a soft knock on his door. "Stiles, you up?"  
"Yeah." He mumbled into Derek's chest loud enough for the woman to hear.  
Melissa stepped in. "I wanted to check on your back, before I go to work."  
"Okay." Still only half conscious, he pushed the blanket down to his waist, then lay his head back on Derek's chest, whom he was lying on top of. The wolf hadn't moved or made a sound, so the nurse pulled the bandage up delicately to look at the claw marks.  
"Wow." She exclaimed in surprise.  
"Wha’ 's it?" The teen mumbled sleepily, lifting his head.  
"Your wounds are so much better."  
"Great health care." He grinned at her.  
"So I can trust him to apply this and redress your back?" She placed some salve on the nightstand.  
"You can. Thank you."  
Stiles listened to her leave the room and kiss his father in the hall before she went on downstairs and left for work. John knocked on his door next. "You boys decent?"  
"Decent enough for a nurse."  
Derek huffed and finally opened his eyes blearily. He lifted his head to kiss Stiles cheek, as his father entered and let his head fall back.  
"Morning, sheriff."  
"Will you call me by my first name already? You are marrying my son."  
"Okay, John."  
"Can I talk to you, when you actually are decent?"  
"What about?" Stiles piped in.  
The older man sighed. "Technically it only concerns Derek."  
"Excuse me?" The teen sounded offended.  
"Yeah, right…Just come downstairs for breakfast."  
Stiles glanced at the clock. "Don't you have to leave soon?"  
"Not until I talked to Derek."  
"We'll be right down." The werewolf assured the sheriff and nudged his mate to get up, as soon as John had left. Stiles whined a little and tried to get comfortable again, but Derek rolled them gently to Stiles' uninjured side, making sure he didn't drop to his back.  
"Come on, don't be so lazy."  
"I'm graduating, I have a right to be lazy."  
"Stiles." The warning tone woke him completely and he picked himself off the bed and got dressed as well, sweatpants and t-shirt, was all he could muster.  
"Derek." He spoke the name in a soft voice, like a caress.  
"Hm?"  
The younger man had stepped right into his space. "Good morning." He pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and stepped back. The alpha simply smiled and grabbed the thinner man's hand. Downstairs the teen loaded two plates and sat them on the table, before he looked at his father expectantly.  
"I made a suggestion to Derek recently and I wanted to know if he had considered it."  
"I have thought about it and I am seriously thinking about accepting your offer."  
Stiles made an exasperated noise. "Can somebody tell me what you are talking about?"  
"Since Derek is currently not working, I asked him if he wanted to start at the academy, when you go to college and join the force."  
"The…What?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Is that even possible?"  
"Sure, he hasn't committed any crimes."  
"You personally arrested him."  
"He didn't do anything."  
"Well, nothing human law can do anything about."  
"For example?"  
"He killed Peter."  
The sheriff looked genuinely shocked. "When?"  
"Two years ago?"  
"Looks like he got better."  
"Speak of the devil." Derek threw in.  
Stiles lifted his head and also heard the distinct sound of the muscle car. "So it would seem. Never mind him, do you want this, Derek?"  
"I think I do."  
"Okay." He kissed Derek's cheek and got back to his breakfast.  
"That's good to hear, I'll give you the necessary information, next chance I get. I gotta go, so be nice to Peter, I don't want another meltdown."  
"Don't worry, I think I scared him enough."  
The alpha snorted, but internally couldn't deny the truth in his words, by now he really was at times terrifyingly like a wolf, including all the attributes that came with it, except for the physical ones.  
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it. You finish your breakfast."

"Morning. Haven't seen you in a while." The sheriff greeted the werewolf.  
"Yeah, hey. I was out of town."  
"Sorry, I'm already late, but if they left anything, there's food in the kitchen."  
"Thanks. Bye." Peter Hale smiled faintly and made his way into the house, as the older man left.

"You two look positively glowing."  
"Happy people do that, you know." Stiles beamed. "Oh yeah, we're getting married, too."  
"You…" The older wolf let that information sink in.  
"I knew that would shut him up. You owe me dessert." He grinned widely at his mate.  
"I didn't bet against you." Derek smirked.  
"But…"  
"Don't worry, you get your dessert."  
"Uh…You are serious." The beta raised an eyebrow.  
"Of course we are, when are we ever not serious about our relationship." Not a question.  
Derek simply growled at him and let his eyes flare up for a second, to put the beta in his place. Peter was doing better and was mostly somewhat pleasant company, but that didn't mean Derek would forget his past actions and scheming anytime soon. Stiles was mostly at ease around his uncle, the alpha though still didn't trust him much.  
Stiles grabbed Derek's hand to appease him. "Either you be happy for us, or you can leave, Peter. I have enough on my plate, I'm not gonna put up with your shit, too."  
The older wolf raised his open hands in defense and retreated slowly. "I am happy for you though." He threw over his shoulder in leaving the house.  
Stiles kissed his mate long and slow, until Derek ended the kiss to lay their foreheads together.  
"Doesn't Lydia need you today?"  
"She didn't really need me yesterday, but yeah. Should probably take a shower first, though." He grinned suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.  
"That way you're never gonna get there." The wolf grinned.  
Stiles did eventually get to the school, where Derek dropped him off around noon and Lydia greeted him with a raised eyebrow.  
"What, I have a very hot fiancé."  
"Right." She smiled knowingly.  
"Hey, the cake tasting is tomorrow at two. You wanna come?"  
"Won't Derek object?"  
"He will most likely say that he wants my cupcakes anyway. I pushed him into at least looking at other options." He grinned a little.  
"Which ones?"  
"Chocolate banana with vanilla cream."  
"I can relate to that." Lydia smiled.  
"I wanted to at least look at other option, or get some new ideas."  
"Good enough for me." She was still smiling. "I should be able to finish most of the preparation here today. How is your back?"  
"A lot better. Should be completely healed in about a week or so. The scar will still be nasty, though."  
"Wow."  
"Sex is a good remedy." Stiles whispered into her ear. "But don't ask me how they relate."  
"I'd say endorphins have something to do with it, but that's just me." She grinned widely.  
"And you are most likely right, like always." He grinned back at her. "Should we pick you up here tomorrow?"  
"Yes, that'd be good."  
"See you 'morrow. I'll be on my way home, if anybody asks."  
"Which one?"  
He turned back smiling brightly. "Derek's."  
Stiles wandered into their bedroom, finding his future husband asleep, tangled in the sheets, completely unaware of his presence, until he sat on the edge of the bed and carded his hand through his mussed up hair. Derek woke with a sigh and turned towards his mate smiling. Barely conscious, he pulled the younger man down, burying him underneath his own body, he started to kiss him and tug at his clothes. All too happy to oblige, he ignored the sting of his wounds, in favor of hot sex.  
Later he had his laptop beside them leaning against the headboard checking his lists, with Derek's head pillowed on his belly. "Honey."  
"Hm?"  
"You haven't forgotten the cake tasting tomorrow, right?" The wolf made an incoherent questioning sound. "Cake, for the wedding reception. You agreed to a tasting."  
"I remember." He mumbled.  
"It's tomorrow."  
"'kay."  
"Lydia is coming, too."  
"Mhm."  
"You are so adorably useless right now. I could probably get anything past you."  
Derek merely rubbed the side of his face on Stiles' skin. He had listened, but he didn't care much, whether or not they did the tasting, Stiles would pick something incredibly yummy, that he also liked. The werewolf started to kiss and nip at Stiles' side, which made the human squirm and laugh uncontrollably. When he managed to catch his breath, he tugged Derek's head back and up far enough to kiss him.  
"What's with you, today? You don't usually sleep during the day."  
"Mom?" Isaac yelled through the house.  
"Bedroom." He answered loud, but not yelling.  
Ten seconds later the beta entered the room. "Where else would you be?"  
"Did you want something?" Derek asked gruffly.  
"Uh, can Danny stay the night?"  
"Yeah sure." Stiles glanced at the clock. "And you can start cooking. Recipe's on the fridge. We'll be down in a bit."  
"Okay."  
The alphas showered and came downstairs. Derek fully clothed in jeans and t-shirt, but Stiles only in a pair of sweat pants, after his mate had applied some of the salve Melissa had given him and let it aspirate.  
"Hey, Danny."  
"Hi." Danny turned and suddenly looked a little scared when his eyes fell on Derek.  
"Don't worry he won't eat you." He said nonchalantly and scanned the kitchen for progress. He turned towards the fridge to get the meat out and heard the other human gasp behind him.  
"What now?" He glanced at his mate accusingly, who merely lifted a questioning eyebrow.  
"Your back."  
"What? You already saw the tattoo…"  
"Might wanna remember what that looks like right now." Derek kissed his hair and took the meat from him.  
"What…? Oh." He sighed. "Uh, yeah, that. I know it looks yucky." He shrugged and went to help Derek, with no further explanation.  
Boyd and Erica showed up later. They each nuzzled Stiles in greeting, smiling at their alpha and took their places at the table, happily digging in. Nobody else gave any mind to the horrendous marks on Stiles' back. Danny glanced at the alpha mate every other minute.  
"Danny stop it. I'm fine." Stiles let out a frustrated huff and didn't realize his eyes had turned crimson, staring at his classmate, who once again gasped. Derek just laid his hand on his mate's neck and stroked random patterns into his skin. He looked way too smug for his own good.  
"You don't look fine."  
"How do I not look fine? I eat, I sleep, I heal. Fine."  
"Have you seen your back?" Danny was upset.  
"We do have mirrors." Stiles narrowed his no longer glowing eyes at the other teen.  
"How can you act like this is nothing?"  
"It sure as hell isn't nothing, but I also can't change it. It's just gotta heal."  
"You…" A warning growl from the alpha shut him up immediately.  
Derek and Stiles stood and went outside. The human had grabbed the wolf's hand in the process and they wandered into the woods. Stiles had gotten to like the feel of dry leaves and earth under his bare feet.  
"Babe."  
"Hm?"  
"I'm not indifferent to your planning."  
"I know that." He lifted their still joined hands to his lips. "I also know that you will want my cupcakes anyway."  
"I like yours." The older man said sheepishly.  
"I know you do, honey. The least I will get out of this, is some new ideas."  
"Am I doing enough?"  
Stiles stopped and turned to him with a bright smile. "Yes. I have time right now and you know I'm going crazy, when I don't have anything to do. So planning our reception and getting a lot of sex from you is perfect. And I also realize how I'm objectifying you, just a little bit." He ducked his head.  
"Just a little, huh?"  
"I love you, Sourwolf." Stiles jumped on his mate and like always was caught, slinging his legs around the older man's waist.  
"Why else would you marry me, right?"  
"Exactly." He beamed at the alpha. "Well, there's also the fact, that you have money."  
"Oh, really. You'd marry me, only for my money? What would you even do all day?"  
Stiles thought for a moment. "I have no idea. Good thing I love you, then."  
Derek raised an eyebrow at him, which Stiles responded to with kissing him. He adjusted his position slightly, pushing himself upwards and closer. After several minutes, they heard leafs rustling nearby.  
"Am I interrupting something?"  
Stiles sighed against his mate's lips. "You're always interrupting, Peter." He looked at the former alpha over Derek's shoulder. "What do you want?"  
"Just visiting."  
"Don't scare the pups."  
"Why ever would I do that?" He asked in mock exasperation.  
"Because you somehow think it's funny."  
"I would never."  
"Yeah, right."  
Peter started towards the house and Derek turned as well holding Stiles a little tighter.  
"You sure you wanna…" His words faltered. "Who did this to you?"  
"Rogue omega. Why do you care?" The older wolf almost always managed to put a damper on Stiles' mood and get himself on the receiving end of it.  
"You're family. I care."

"Did I do something wrong?" Danny was confused.  
"Pissing off mom, is never wise." Erica informed him and left also, Boyd trailing after her. "You clean up." She said over her shoulder, halfway up the stairs.  
"I just…" He stared at his boyfriend. "I didn't mean to upset him."  
"He's okay, just has a lot on his mind right now. Prom, the conference next week, the wedding, college…"  
"Back up. Wedding?"  
"They are getting married, before Stiles goes to San Francisco."  
"What?"  
"Yeah. Don't ask me. Possessive alpha thing, whatever." Isaac smiled shyly.  
"Is Derek forcing him?"  
The werewolf eyed him suspiciously. "Why? You suddenly have a thing for Stiles? And no, it's both of them. As if Derek could force Stiles to do anything…" He sighed. "Come on, gotta clean up."  
They'd just finished putting everything into the dish washer, when Peter entered first and scared Danny shitless, when the boy turned around and the older Hale was all teeth and glowing eyes. Danny actually dug his fingernails into Isaac's upper arm and tried to hide behind him.  
"Really? I told you not to, like a minute ago." Stiles came in behind him.  
"What? I didn't scare your precious puppy."  
"Don't try to be funny, Peter."  
"Smells delicious. You have some left?"  
"Follow your nose."  
"Haha." Peter glared at him.  
"Then use one of your other enhanced senses, I don't care." Stiles took Derek's hand and led him upstairs, so he could put a fresh bandage on his back.  
"What did YOU do to him?" Danny asked the older man.  
"Someone's feeling confident…" He flashed an evil grin at the human. "Where to begin…?" It was more of a threat, then an invitation and Danny felt that.

Stiles let out a long sigh as Derek was smoothing down the edges of the tape that held the gauze in place to protect the scab. The older man placed his hand in the center of the triskele tattoo.  
"You okay? I can send him away."  
"No, it's fine. I'm just tired."  
"You wanna go to bed or maybe watch a movie first."  
"Movie." They immediately heard movement towards the living room. "Big couch is ours." The reaction was some grunts and shuffling downstairs. He put on one of Derek's wide henleys, before they joined the others, who already put a movie on. Stiles lay himself on top of his mate, so he wouldn't accidentally roll on his back, with the older man's arms securely around his waist and back. The pack, plus Peter and Danny, scattered on the other furniture around them. Danny had been confused from the moment he had arrived at the mansion. Everybody calling Stiles 'mom' was weird on so many levels alone, but the way the other teenagers acted around him, scouring at times and Derek seemed to respond to every minute mood change.  
It was the first time he really was around them for longer since Stiles' birthday and then he had been too shocked from the revelation of werewolves, to observe anything significant. He stole a glance every now and then at the two men lying on the couch. He was still scared of Derek Hale and his uncle was just creepy and seemed to be only tolerated, not really welcome.  
Stiles had dosed for a while, not really paying attention to the movie, more to himself and Derek's breath and heartbeat. He lifted his head a little and kissed the corner of the werewolf's mouth, eliciting a tiny smile. The human replaced his lips at the crook of his neck nipping and eventually biting the flesh, until he drew blood, which he lapped up. The betas looked up for a short moment, when they smelled the blood, but didn't acknowledge it, since it wasn't the first time, Stiles would bite his mate. It wasn't exactly a turn on for Derek, though he had gone off to it a few times during sex, but he got the effort to mark him as well as he did Stiles all the time. It still didn't last long. That didn't discourage the younger man, he just kept nipping and occasionally pinching some skin between his teeth.  
"Will you stop that, Stiles?"  
The teen licked his lips, still tasting the blood. "No, but you can always leave."  
"It's nice here." Peter was leaning in the doorway with a bowl of food in hand.  
"Don't complain then."  
Suddenly he picked himself up off his alpha and stepped onto the porch. Danny saw him go outside, when he came back from the bathroom and followed him outside.  
"Can we talk?"  
"Sure."  
"I didn't mean to upset you."  
"Don't be pushy, stay alive."  
"I…"  
"If I tell you I'm fine, I'm fine. I know it looks horrible and the scars will stay there, but I'm okay."  
The alpha mate smiled as the sheriff's cruiser stopped in front of the house.  
"Hey dad. What brings you here?"  
"You, obviously. Danny." He hugged his son shortly and nodded at the other boy.  
"Have you eaten?"  
"No."  
"Come on." Stiles lead his father into the kitchen and gave him the rest of the dinner.  
"Damn, I still wanted some." Peter came in, too.  
"Yeah, well. Not yours to give, much less take." The alpha mate grinned evilly.  
"Are you picking on him again?" His father scolded.  
"Nothing he didn't deserve, don't worry."  
"I kinda doubt that."  
"Hey I'd give him to you, since you seem to have a soft spot for him, but I seriously doubt Melissa would like to have him around as much."  
"Pretty sure I don't want details."  
Stiles snorted. "Let's just say he made a lousy first impression."  
He let water pour into the now empty pot, when Danny came back in.  
"Hey, do you…" He didn't get further, as Peter yanked his hand back from Stiles' injured shoulder before he touched it, with far more force than strictly necessary. The human cried out in pain.  
The alpha mate jerked around. "What the…?" Peter growled. "Peter let go of him." The beta was still growling.  
"Peter!" Derek's commanding voice cut through the loaded atmosphere.  
Slowly his uncle let go of Danny's wrist, moving back a few steps.  
"I just…" Danny hesitated. "Your shoulder…I didn't…"  
Stiles sighed heavily. "It's okay. Nothing happened."  
John Stilinski had almost dropped his bowl and stared blankly at his son. Stiles sighed again and slid his hand over his face. "Danny what did you want?"  
He cradled his wrist. "I wanted to ask, if I could make some coffee."  
"Yes, of course." Stiles ushered the other men out and into the living room.  
Isaac had been standing silently beside his boyfriend and was now whispering reassuringly to him, while puttering around, actually making the coffee. Peter sat down in one of the armchairs, closest to where Erica and Boyd were still snuggled together on some cushions and blankets. The alpha pair returned to the large couch, while the sheriff took a seat beside them. Stiles was in Derek's lap and stared over at his father.  
"Dad?"  
"No, I understand. You're all very protective of each other."  
"We are." Peter supplied silently.  
"But he is human."  
"He would have hurt Stiles regardless."  
The sheriff sighed and let it go, he was still learning all about pack dynamics, structure and all the other supernatural stuff. His food was delicious, though. Sometimes he wondered, when Stiles had become such a good cook. He had started helping Claudia cooking, when he was five or six, but due to her early death, he didn't have anybody to teach him anymore and he had to teach himself.  
Stiles yawned and hid his face in Derek's neck, his lips brushing his skin. "God, I'm tired. You have to excuse me, I'm beat." Upon standing, he leant back down to kiss his mate's lips. "Don't go running the whole night."  
"I won't. Gotta be awake for the cake tomorrow, right."  
"Right." Another press of soft lips and he made his way upstairs. He shed his clothing in the few feet between the door and the bed, haphazardly dropping them on the floor and then himself on the bed. The human woke with his face buried in thick black fur and breathed out a content sigh. Stiles rolled around to be able to see the clock and groaned. It was ten already. Before he could form another thought an arm slid across his belly and Derek crawled in all his human naked glory over him, settling comfortably between his legs. Stiles smiled up at him, humming into the kiss the wolf planted on his lips. They made out for a few minutes, until Stiles had to go to the bathroom to pee, with Derek following him.  
"Really? I can't go to the bathroom alone?"  
"Of course you can." The older man washed his face with cold water, while his mate relieved himself and handed the towel over, when he had washed his hands. The alphas managed to dress almost properly in regard to the house guest, that still sat at the kitchen table when they came in.  
"Hey, Danny. You sleep okay?" Stiles saw him flinch slightly, as Derek entered behind him.  
"Yeah, right up until I saw HIM coming in at three in the morning."  
"Well, he sometimes goes running at night. No biggy."  
"Yes, if you call a big ass actual wolf with glowing red eyes, no biggy."  
"I get to wake up to that." Stiles told him grinning from ear to ear. "Where's Isaac?"  
"Went for a run."  
Stiles handed his mate a mug of coffee and leant beside him against the counter, hips pressed together.  
"So, Isaac said you're getting married." Danny said cautiously.  
"Yeah, six weeks."  
"Damn."  
The alpha pair regarded him with a lifted eyebrow each.  
"Pissing off mom again?" Erica chirped, as she entered the kitchen with Boyd in tow.  
"Morning pups." Both of them gave Stiles a short nuzzle.  
Danny was once again stunned into silence.  
"When are we picking up Lydia?"  
"1:30." Stiles put his mug aside and started rubbing his face all over Derek's neck and face, all the while breathing him in deeply himself. The alpha simply closed his eyes and accommodated the slow movements in a give and take.

They entered the small shop together, Stiles upfront with the other two following.  
"Stilinski, we have an appointment for a tasting." He said to the young woman behind the counter.  
She glanced at her book and nodded. "Yes, this way please."  
They were seated at a small table. The room already hosted two other couples, one in their twenties, the other one maybe another ten years older.  
An older woman approached their table with a broad smile. "Welcome. Coffee for everyone?" They all nodded. "I will bring the first samples shortly." She regarded them for a moment. "And this is the blushing bride?" She looked from Stiles to Lydia.  
"Yes, he is." Stiles smiled brightly.  
Her gaze immediately jumped to Derek, who was already scowling at his fiancé. "Really?"  
"Fine. I have yet to see you blush, honey."  
"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to…"  
The teen waved her off. "It's okay." He smiled reassuringly at the slightly embarrassed woman.  
She came back a minute later with the coffee and returned shortly after that with the first three different cupcakes for them. Stiles already liked the one with the chocolate filling and white chocolate cream. So did Lydia. Derek on the other hand didn't voice any of his opinions yet. After the second batch, they agreed that the ones with the filling had been the best and told the lady that had served them that they needed to mull it over for a day or two. She bid them farewell with a smile.  
"So, what do you think, Sourwolf?" He looked at the older man in earnest.  
"They were all good? I think?" He wasn't quite sure, what Stiles wanted him to say.  
"They were." He agreed. "But which one did you like best? Or more accurately, did you like them better than mine?"  
"No. But the chocolate filling was nice." He glanced at his mate a little shyly.  
"Geez, how are you this adorable." Before Derek could react, even scowl, Stiles was kissing him. Short, but slow and sweet. "You get your favorite cupcakes with additional chocolate filling, how is that?"  
The werewolf hummed against his lips.  
"Come on, you're attracting attention." Lydia nudged Stiles' side.  
"So?" Stiles turned his head to look into her eyes.  
"Since when do you do PDA, you're always so careful in public."  
"I'm going to marry him and we're going to prom tomorrow, all pretty public. And of course, I'm not underage anymore. We don't have to hide."  
"Well, yeah. Still don't wanna be arrested for public indecency."  
"Jeezus, I KISSED him." He flailed away from Derek. "And you are gonna help with the cupcakes."  
"Why me? Big bad alpha unable to bake?"  
"Kinda." Stiles chuckled. "Cooking is fine, but baking not so much."  
"Okay, fine. I expect compensation."  
"If you must, you can put up some decorations for the reception, but only a little." He conceded.  
"You won't regret it, darlings."  
"Pretty sure, I will." The werewolf sighed.  
"Oh stop it. You coming with us for dinner?" Stiles asked.  
"Not today, my mom actually makes dinner."  
"Okay, see you tomorrow then. We all meet up before prom and go together."  
"I remember. See you." She waved and left.

They met up in the parking lot at half past seven. Derek was casually leaning against the Camaro, tugging at his cuffs every now and then.  
"Stop that. You're acting like you've never worn a suit before."  
"Of course I have. That doesn’t mean I have to like it."  
Lydia and Jackson were already there, Isaac, Erica and Boyd had come with them and Scott and Allison were just pulling in.  
"You'll be wearing one at our wedding as well."  
"Don't remind me." The alpha sighed.  
"Oh, as if you don't know how sexy you look in fine clothes." Stiles sauntered over to him and pecked his lips. The teen took his hand and they made their way inside.

Danny had just poured himself a punch. He turned back around to the room when the Hale pack walked in. "The wolves descend." He muttered to himself, but coach Finstock heard him anyway.  
"What was that?"  
"Nothing." Danny replied and gestured towards Stiles and Derek, who looked stunning.  
"Is that Stilinski?" He narrowed his eyes at the couple.  
"Yes. Excuse me." He went in their direction, when his boyfriend appeared behind the alphas, smiling brightly. The couples scattered across the gym.  
Derek and Stiles lingered awhile, before they made their way to the food and punch.  
"Don't expect me to dance." Derek murmured into his mate's ear.  
"I wouldn't dream of it." The boy chuckled. "Graceful as you are, you have no rhythm whatsoever."  
"Thank you."  
"Try to enjoy it a little bit. For me." Stiles raked his fingers through his beard gently. "At least the food won't suck."  
"Lydia got something to do with that?" The alpha tilted his head into the touch.  
"Yep." He leant over to kiss the corner of his mouth. With two full plates and drinks, they made their way to the table claimed by the pack. Derek was only picking at his food, so when Stiles finished his own plate he continued on his mate's, every now and then shoving a fork full in the older man's mouth, while the alpha talked with his betas. Allison and Scott were on the dance floor most of the time, the others only a little. Erica had dragged Stiles with her for a while and they came back about half an hour later slightly sweaty, but smiling. The alpha mate pressed a light kiss on Derek's forehead.  
"Anybody trying to hit on you?"  
"No, I think it made the round, that I came with you and Boyd is scaring everyone away that even looks at me funny." Derek said in a deadly serious tone of voice.  
Stiles grinned at the dark skinned boy. "Thank you." And sank into Derek's lap, putting an arm around his neck. "See, I trained our pups well."  
"You did, huh?"  
"In regards to love your alpha, hell yeah."  
"They love their mom, too." Derek said softly and looked up at him.  
"Of course they do." Stiles leant down and brushed their lips together.  
The older man reached up and pulled his fiancé back down to kiss him deeply, getting lost in the feeling of his beloved mate, until someone cleared their throat beside them and then again, when nothing changed. The betas at the table already started to chuckle, as the alpha mate slowly detached his lips from Derek's and looked innocently up at the coach.  
"Yes?" He asked, still a little dazed.  
"This is a school dance." Finstock said pointedly.  
"Really? I hadn't noticed, it being at school and all…" The alpha couldn't help but chuckle as well.  
"Don't get cute with me, Stilinski."  
"I would never." Stiles exclaimed scandalized, clutching a hand to his chest. "I'm an almost married man." That broke the camel's back and the betas burst out laughing so hard, the whole gym heard it and Derek buried his face in Stiles' neck, not to do the same.  
"I…What?"  
"Engaged to be married. You should know what that means, coach." He replied seriously.  
"What…? When…?"  
"In six weeks." Derek answered equally as serious, but with a scowl. "Is there a problem?"  
"What?" Coach looked surprised and took a step back from the suddenly dangerous looking man.  
"It's okay, coach. We are behaving now. You should much rather watch those who are spiking the punch." He said smirking and Finstock was gone.  
It was already well past ten and some of the students started leaving. Stiles didn't see much reason to stay longer either. "Honey." Stiles locked eyes with his mate.  
"Yeah." The alpha nodded.  
They stood up together and left the others to their own devices. Derek parked the Camaro on the street in front of the Stilinski residence, the Jeep sat in the driveway, with enough room for the Cruiser, when the sheriff would eventually return from his shift. The alpha pair walked in, Stiles locking the door behind them and made their way upstairs. Derek carefully undressed his mate.  
"Does it still hurt?" His fingers caressed the edges of the bandage.  
"No, just a little tense when I put pressure on it." He turned to face the older man. "It's okay." He leant closer and kissed Derek deeply. "I'm tired."  
The werewolf laid on his back and pulled the boy with him, so he was on top of him.  
"Thank you."  
"For…?"  
"Coming tonight. Being wonderful. Everything." Stiles sighed.  
"Anytime." The alpha responded, kissing his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series will continue shortly. The next story is already halfway done.


End file.
